LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


ANNUAL  REPORTS 


OF  THE 


CUSTODIAN 


TO  THE 


EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE 


OF  THE 


ATION 


REPORTS  FOR  NINE  YEARS. 


FROM    1875    TO    1883,    INCLUSIVE, 


CLOSING  AVlTH  A  DISSERTATION  ON   SUNDAY  OPENING  OF  THE  MONUMENT. 


Also,  remarks  on  Sight-seeing  in  London;  Sketches,  Historical  and  Descriptive  of 
the  Methods  of  taking  care  of  the  Brock  Monument  at  Queenston,  Can- 
ada; the  Washington  Monument  at  Baltimore,  Md.;  Mount  Vernon,  on 
the  Potomac,  Virginia;  Bunker  Hill   Monument,  at  Boston, 
Massachusetts;  Mention  of  the  Washington  Monument, 
at  the  Capital  of  the  Nation— now  almost  com- 
pleted;   and  of  the  proposed    Garfield 
Monument    at   Cleveland,    Ohio. 


By  JOHN  CARROLL  POWER, 

CUSTODIAL    OF    THE   NATIONAL    LINCOLN    MONUMENT. 


SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.: 

H.   W.  EOKKEK,  PRINTER  AND  BINDER. 

1884. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1884.  by 
John  Carrolt,  Power, 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


<?7-3.  ILL 
T 


Had  the  National  Lincoln  Monument  Association  held  annual 
meetings  and  published  reports  of  their  proceedings,  as  practiced 
by  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association,  and  the  Mount  Ver- 
non Ladies'  Assosiation,  there  would  not  be  any  necessity  for 
the  publication  of  the  reports  of  the  Custodian  in  this  form,  be- 
cause  they  would  have  become  a  part  of  the  transactions  of'  the 
)  Association.  As  the  Association  has  never  made  any  formal 
\j  publication  of  its  proceedings  except  in  the  History  of  the  Monu- 
ment by  the  Custodian,  it  would  seem  manifestly  proper  that 
these  reports  should  be  published  as  an  additional  instalment 
of  its  history. 

Recognizing  the  fact  that  the  people  have  a  right  to  know  how 
the  funds  collected  at  the  Monument  are  used,  the  Custodian 
Has  always  been  desirous  of  having  his  reports  published  annually. 
With  the  consent  of  the  Executive  Committee  the  report  for  1875 
was  published  and  paid  for  out  of  the  collections  at  the  Monu- 
ment, but'since  that  time  the  necessity  for  using  the  income  on 
the  Monument  and  grounds  has  been  so  urgent  that  any  further 
appropriation  for  publishing  reports  has  been  withheld  ;  therefore 
the  Custodian  publishes  this  little  volume  on  his  own  account. 
The  result  is  the  same  as  though  the  Association  issued  the  pub- 
lication, the  facts  are  by  this  means  accessible  to  the  people. 


Annual  Reports  for 1875 

" 1876 

" 1877 

" 1878 

" 1879 

" 1880 

" 1881 

"  1882 

" 1883 


EXPLANATORY  REMARKS. 


The  National  Lincoln  Monument  was  dedicated  October  15th, 
1874,  in  presence  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
and  a  concourse  of  citizens  to  the  number  of  twenty-five  thou- 
sand or  more. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  National  Lincoln  Monument  Association, 
October  28,  1871,  the  present  Custodian  was  placed  temporarily  in 
charge  of  the  Monument,  and  it  was  formally  opened  on  the 
twenty-ninth  for  the  reception  of  visitors.  At  the  same  meeting 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  determine  the  expediency  of  pro- 
viding for  a  permanent  Custodian  and  to  frame  a  set  of  rules  and 
regulations  by  which  he  should  be  governed. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Association,  November  9th,  1871,  that  com- 
mittee reported  in  favor  of  employing  a  Custodian,  and  recom- 
mended that  Mr.  J.  C.  Power  be  appointed  to  that  office.  The 
report  was  concurred  in,  and  the  following  adopted  as  the 

RULES    AND   REGULATIONS  : 

1.  The  Custodian  shall  have  personal  care  of  the  Monument, 
and  employ  one  or  more  assistants,  to  be  approved  by  the  Execu- 
tive Committee.  Said  Custodian,  or  an  assistant,  shall  be  in 
attendence  at  the  Monument  during  the  usual  business  hours  of 
each  business  day,  except  in  stormy  or  inclement  weather. 

2.  He  shall  keep  the  Monument  in  good  order,  the  steps  clean 
and  clear  of  snow  or  other  obstructions.  He  shall  keep  the  walks 
to  and  around  the  Monument  clean,  well  swept  and  free  from  all 
grass  ;  the  carriage  drives  through  the  grounds  in  good  order,  free 
from  weeds  and  grass,  and  the  grass  plats  and  lawns  mown  at 
proper  times  and  free  from  weeds. 

3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Custodian  to  be  courteous  and 
polite  to  visitors,  to  give  all  proper  information  when  requested, 
to  keep  a  visitor's  register,  and  to  show  all  parts  of  the  Monument 
except  the  catacomb,*  to  which  no  one  shall  be  admitted  without 
special  permit  from  some  member  of  the  Association. 

4.  To  provide  for  the  compensation  of  the  Custodian,  and  ex- 
pense of  the  care  of  the  Monument  and  grounds,  the  Custodian 
is  authorize'd  and  directed  to  receive  from  all  persons,  except 

*Visitors  are  now  admitted  to  the  Catacomb. 


6 

children  under  twelve  years  of  age,  for  admittance  to  Memorial 
Hall  and  the  Obelisk,  or  both,  the  sum  of  twenty-five  cents. 
And  he  is  further  authorized  to  sell  at  the  Monument  any  such 
books,  phamphlets,  pictures  or  other  publications  concerning 
Abraham  Lincoln  or  the  Monument,  as  may  be  approved  of  by 
the  Executive  Committee. 

5.  The  Custodian  shall,  on  or  before  the  fifth  day  of  each 
month,  file  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Association  a  report  in  writ- 
ing of  alhreceipts  for  admissions  or  for  sales  during  the  previous 
mouth,  and  make  full  payment  of  till  moneys  due  the  Association 
by  virtue  of  his  agreement. 

6.  The  foregoing  regulations  shall  be  at  all  times  subject  to 
change,  alteration  or  amendment,  by  the  National  Lincoln  Monu- 
ment Association. 


The  first  two  months  were  passed  over  without  any  regular 
account  being  kept.  During  that  time  it  became  apparent  to  the 
Custodian  that  neither  himslf  nor  visitors  could  be  comfortable 
without  some  provision  for  warming  Memorial  Hall.  He  called 
the  attention  of  the  Executive  Committee  to  the  subject,  and  after 
a  thorough  discussion  of  the  same,  the  Committee  ordered  one  of 
Ide's  steam  heating  apparatus  to  be  put  in,  which  was  accord- 
ingly done.  To  define  more  clearly  the  rights  and  duties  of  both 
parties,  though  to  some  extent  a  repetition,  the  following 

ARTICLE  of  agreement 

Was  entered  into  between  J.  C.  Power  of  the  first  part,  and  the 
National  Lincoln  Monument  Association  of  the  second  part,  all 
of  the  city  of  Springfield,  in  the  county  of  Sangamon,  and  the 
State  of  Illinois. 

The  party  of  the  first  part  hereby  agrees  to  act  as  Custodian  of 
the  National  Lincoln  Monument,  under  direction  of  the  National 
Lincoln  Monument  Association  for  one  year,  beginning  January 
first,  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred  and  Seventv-hve.  He  is  t<> 
have  the  supervision  of  the  Monument,  Grounds  and  Heating 
Apparatus,  and  see  that  all  are  kept  in  proper  order.  He  is  to 
keep  a  record  for  visitors,  and  give  all  necessary  information  to 
the  same;  also  to  collect  contributions  in  the  manner  prescribed 
by  the  Association,  keep  account  of  the  receipts,  and  of  dis- 
bursements   for    labor,    and   for  any  other  necessary  expenses 


that  may  be  incurred  ;  make  a  monthly  report  of  the  same  to  the 
Executive  Committee,  and  pay  over  to  the  Association,  any  and 
all  moneys  in  excess  of  his  salary  and  necessary  expenses. 

The  party  of  the  second  part  hereby  agrees  to  pay  to  the  said 
party  of  the  first  part,  for  his  services,  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars  per 
month,  with  the  additional  privilege  of  selling  any  publications 
or  pictures  concerning  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Monument,  that 
may  be  approved  by  the  Executive  Committe,  and  of  appropriat- 
ing the  proceeds  of  such  sales  to  his  own  use. 

It  is  hereby  mutually  agreed,  that  if  at  any  time  it  becomes 
necessary  and  expedient  to  employ  one  or  more  assistants,  it  shall 
be  subject  to  future  negotiations  before  any  such  assistants  are 
employed. 

It  is  further  agreed,  that  in  no  event  shall  the  salary  paid  the 

Custodian  exceed  the  net  receipts. 

J.  C.  Power. 

Lincoln  Monument  Association, 

By  John  T.  Stuart,  )     ™         ,. 
John  Williams,  ■  I    E^cu^e 
Jacob  Bunn.         (   Committee. 

Springfield,  III.,  December,  1874. 


FIRST    ANNUAL    REPORT 

OF  THE 

CUSTODIAN    OF  THE  NATIONAL  LINCOLN   MONUMENT 


IFOJR,  THE  YE-A.E,  1875. 


These  Annual  Reports  are  composed  of  condensed  statements 
of  the  twelve  monthly  reports  for  each  year.  Vouchers  for  nearly 
every  item  of  expense  accompanies  each  monthly  report. 

J.  C.  Power,  Custodian,  in  account  with  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee of  the  National  Lincoln  Monument  Association. 


Items. 


Dr. 


Ck. 


January— 

Receipts  from  visitors,  for  admittance  at  twenty-five  cents 

each 

Disbursements— 

For  snow  tools $105 

coal 9  35 

round  table 3  75 

printing  rules  and  regulations 4  50 

salt  to  remove  ice 40 

hitching  posts 60 

making  fires 7  50 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

To  balance 

I  Profits  on  sales  of  books,  pictures,  etc.,  $17.20. 1 

February— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements—    ■ 

For  coal $5  50 

making  fires 7  50 

moving  snow 5  00 

opening  drains 1  on 

salary  ....' 50  00 

To  balance 

I  Profits  on  sales,  $10.48.1 

M  iBCH— 

i'.y  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  eoal $i;  05 

making  fires 7  50 

moving  snow,  and  other  labor 8  50 

salary 50  oo 

To  balance 

[Profits  on  sales,  $11.58.1 

April, - 

i'.y  balance , 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  coal „    $2  50 

laboi  ongrounds 9  00 

iron  wrench 1  90 

salary 50  00 

La  lance 

I  Profits  on  sales,  $12.08.1 


$72  40 

$77  15 

4  75 

$77  15 

$77  15 

$41  65 

$4  75 

\ 

69  00 

32  10 

$73  75 

$73  75 

$39  40 

$32  10 

72  05 

til  75 

$104  15 

$104  15 

$07  2H 

$64  75 

<;:;  10 

60  !)5 

$128  15 

$128  15 

9 


Items. 

Dr. 

Cr. 

May— 

By  balance 

$103  40 

38  19 
$141  59 

Receipts  from  visitors - 

$60  95 

Disbursements- 
coal  

repairs  on  heater 

To  balance.. 

19  5H 
9  61 

1  50 
50  00 

80  64 

[Profits  on  sales,  $22.08.1 

June— 

By  balance 

$141  59 

$126  80 
11  89 

$38  19 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  two  long  tables 

30  (Mi 

labor  on  grounds 

assistant  three  days 

salary 

4  00 

4  00 

5  00 
7  50 

50  00 

100  50 

To  balance 

[Profits  on  sales,  $26.13.1 

July— 

By  balance 

$138  69 

$138  69  v 

$92  25 

$11  89 

Receipts  from  visitors n. 

Disbursements- 
four  chairs 

$4  00 
8  55 

assistant,  July  4th 

4  50 
2  50 

69  55 
10  81 

[Profits  on  sales,  $21 .30.1 

August— 

To  balance 

$92  25 

$92  25 

$10  81 
87  25 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor  on  grounds 

salary 

$31  50 
50  00 

$81  50 
16  56 

LProfits  on  sales,  $19.23.1 
September— 

$98  06 

$98  06 

$16  56 
82  75 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor  on  grounds 

salary 

$10  00 

$60  00 

By  balance 

39  31 

[Profits  on  sales,  $20.40.1 
October— 

$99  31 

$99  31 

$39  31 
105  75 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  galvanized  iron  chimney 

making  fires,  half  month 

$33  50 
3  75 

salary 

$91  21 

53  85 

[Profits  on  sales,  $22.50.1 

$145  06 

$145  06 

10 


Items. 


De. 


Cr. 


NOVEMBER— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  lumber $3  20 

clamps  to  hold  frames 5  00 

making  fires 7  50 

salary 50  00 

By  balance 

1  Profits  on  sales,  $10.50.] 

December— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  coal $9  99 

frames  for  rules  and  regulations 4  20 

painting  and  glazing 3  95 

making  fires 7  50 

printing 8  00 

salary 50  00 

By  balance,  cash  on  hand 

iProfits  on  sales,  $12.75.] 

Totals  for  the  year  1875 — 

Receipts $922  35 

Expenditures 922  35 

Profits  on  sales  $206.23. 


$53  85 
57  25 


$111  lit 


$45  10 
46  25 


$91  65 


$65  7ii 
15  Ht 


$111  in 


$83  64 

8  01 


$91  65 


By  analyzing  the  financial  statement  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
receipts  for  visitors  from  January  1st  to  December  31st,  1875, 
were  $922,35,  and  that  the  disbursements  were  $914,34,  leaving 
a  balance  in  my  hands  of  $8,01  in  favor  of  the  Association.  Six 
hundred  dollars  of  the  receipts  is  retained  as  salary  and  $314,34 
has  been  used  to  defray  the  running  expenses,  the  items  of  which 
appear  in  connection  with  each  monthly  report.  Nearly  half  of 
the  latter  amount  is  invested  in  what  might  be  termed  permanent 
improvements,  such  as  planks  for  walks,  tables,  chairs,  frames 
for  rules  and  regulations,  and  other  needed  articles  in  Memorial 
Hall.  By  adding  the  profits  from  sales  to  the  salary,  it  will  be 
'seen  that  the  compensation  of  the  Custodian  for  the  year  has  been 
$806,2.3.  Some  days  visitors  have  come  in  such  numbers  as  to 
over-tax  the  energies  of  the  Custodian,  and  occasionally  render  it 
necessary  to  employ  an  assistant.  In  a  very  few  instances  a 
sufficient  sum  of  money  has  been  collected  in  one  day  to  defray 
the  expenses  for  a  week.  On  the  other  hand,  there  has  been 
eighty-four  days — more  than  one  fourth  of  the  year — on  each  of 
which  the  number  of  visitors  was  confined  to  half  a  dozen  or  less. 
There  were  seven  days  on  which,  in  consequence  of  the  inclemency 


11 

of  the  weather,  not  a  single  visitor  appeared.  During  this 
time  there  has  not  been  a  failure  to  open  the  Monument  on  any- 
one of  the  312  week  days. 

The  year  has  been  one  of  experiment.  Doubts  existed  whether 
or  not  the  Monument  could  be  kept  open  continuously  and  the  ex- 
penses defrayed  from  the  contributions  of  visitors.  The  experi- 
ment has  been  tried  and  proved  successful.  The  six  acres  he- 
longing  to  the  Association, — since  increased  by  a  donation  from  the 
city  of  Springfield,  and  from  the  Citizens'  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, to  nearly  nine  acres, — are  in  better  condition  than  ever  be- 
fore. Memorial  Hall,  dripping  with  water  when  first  opened,  has, 
by  the  aid  of  Ide's  steam  heating  apparatus,  been  rendered  habit- 
able. This  Hall  must,  in  the  future,  be  the  main  dependence  to 
keep  up  the  Monument  and  grounds,  therefore  its  attractions 
should  be  largely  increased.  Any  diminution  now  would  be 
almost  fatal.  As  the  statuary  is  added  the  tendency  of  visitors 
to  satisfy  themselves  with  an  outer  view  will  increase  unless  it  is 
known  that  additions  to  the  relics  and  memorials  inside  are  in 
the  same  ratio. 

A  VAGUE  NOTION  PREVAILS  TO  SOME  EXTENT,  RATHER  LOCAL  THAN 
GENERAL,  THAT  THE  MONUMENT  SHOULD  BE  FREE  TO  ALL  VISITORS, 
WITHOUT  ANY  RESTRAINT  OR  HINDRANCE  WHATEVER,  AND  THIS  WITH- 
OUT ANY  APPARENT  THOUGHT  OR  CARE  AS  TO  HOW  THE  EXPENSES    SHOULD 

be  met.  With  the  view  of  obtaining  information  as  to  the  mode 
of  conducting  other  places  of  public  interest  similar  to  this,  I 
wrote  to  the  keepers  of  the  Brock  Monument  at  Queenston, 
Canada;  the  Washington  Monument,  at  Baltimore,  Maryland; 
and  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  at  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

[The  results,  originally  included  in  my  first  annual  report  is 
transferred  to  the  ninth  in  order  to  associate  with  them  the  man- 
ner of  keeping  Mount  Vernon  also.] 

Something  more  than  four  thousand  visitors  have  entered 
Memorial  Hall.  Nominally  the  sum  collected  from  each  has  been 
twenty-five  cents,  but  really  about  one-eighth  have  gone  through 
by  invitation,  and  from  other  causes,  without  contributing.  In 
addition  to  the  four  thousand  above  named,  an  equal,  or,  perhaps, 
a  greater  number  were  content  to  look  at  the  outside  of  the  Monu- 
ment. 

Bunker  Hill  Monument  has  been  completed  more  than  one- 
third  of  a  century,  and  the  combined  wealth  of  the  cities  of  Bos- 
ton and  Charlestown,  united  as  they  now  are  under  one  corporation, 


12 

with  their  total  population  of  four  hundred  thousand,  have  not 
seen  proper  to  make  access  to  the  Monument  free.     Springfield, 
with  its  twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants,  as  a  center  of  trade 
and  travel,  compared  with  Boston,  is  in  the  ratio  of  one  to  twenty, 
while  the  receipts  of  the  Lincoln   Monument,    compared   with 
Bunker  Hill,  is  nearly  as  one  to  five.     This  gives  assurance  that, 
with  proper  management  the  Lincoln  Monument  will  continue  to 
be  self-sustaining,   and,  as  population  increases,  will  admit  of 
more  liberal  expenditures  in  ornamenting  the  grounds.     One  point 
more   and  I  have  done.     It  is  almost  universally  remarked   by 
visitors,  many  of  whom  say  they  have  stopped  over  a  day  or  a 
train  at  Springfield  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  see  the  Monu- 
ment, that  there  is  much  more  to  see  and  study  than  they  were 
prepared  to  expect.     This  leads  me  to  compare  the  labor  of  those 
in   charge  of  the  different  monuments.     Three  of  those  I  have 
spoken  of  are  each  a  plain  obelisk,  with  a  spiral  stairway  in  the 
center.     There  is  little  at  either  to  explain,  and   the   principal 
business  of  the  keeper  is  to  receive  the  contributions  and  open  the 
w7ay  for  the  visitor  to  ascend.     It  is  not  so  at  the  Lincoln  Monu- 
ment.    Here  are  three  different  points  to  visit  and  study.     Each 
have  their  lessons.      To  the  well  educated,  less  explanation  is 
necessary,  but  to  the  majority  of  visitors,  half  its  teachings  would 
remain  hidden  without  some  explanation,  just  as  the  languages, 
arts  and  sciences  are  hidden  until  revealed  by  the  living  teacher. 
Few  allow  themselves  sufficient  time,  and  in  order  to  go  over  the 
whole  ground  and  make  each  visitor  feel  that  he  or  she  has  been 
profited  and  edified,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  talk  and  move 
with  the  greatest  celerity ;  therefore,  if  you  do  not  see  proper  to 
re-appoint   me,  let  my  successor  be  a  man  in  vigorous  health, 
quick  in  his  movements,  and  so  well  acquainted  with  the  subject 
that  he  can  answer  every  question  instantly  and  correctly.     A 
man  in  this  position,  who  is  only  qualified  to  open  doors  and  re- 
ceive contributions,  would  do  very  little  of  the  latter.     He  must 
know  what  is  right,  and  when  that  is  assailed,  as  it  often  will  be, 
must  maintain  it  with  unyielding  firmness,  and  that  with  a  suavity 
that  will  disarm  the  would-be  aggressor. 
All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Memorial  Hall,  National-Lincoln  Monument. 

T  ,      „  J.  C.  Powee,  Custodian. 

Sprinufieed,  III.,  January  .".th,  ism. 

Report  approved,  and  J.  C.  Power  is  hereby  re-appointed  Custodian  of  the 
Monument  for  the  present  year. 

John  T.  Stuart, 

January  14th,  1876. 


J;  WIN    T.    NTl'AKT,     J        ,,      ,    ,,.; 

Jacob  Bunn,         [  tv£2!uEl 

John  Williams,    j   Committee. 


13 


SECOND  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1876. 


Items. 


De. 


Ce. 


Januaby— 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

Forcoal $10  35 

Are  scraper 1  50 

making  fires 1  50 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


[Profits  on  sales  of  books,  pictures,  etc.,  $15.73.1 

Febbuaey— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

Forcoal $3  24 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


LProflts  on  sales,  $10.41.] 

Maech— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  oil  cloth  to  cover  tables $6  0<i 

salary 5J  00 

To  balance 


LProflts  on  sales,  $7.58.1 

Apeil— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  coal $3  33 

printing  first  annual  report,  1000  copies. .      25  00 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


(Profits  on  sales,  $12.58.1 

May— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  lumber $12  70 

for  making  fires 7  50 

frames  for  rules  and  regulations  at  hotels     9  75 

labor 6  38 

screen  at  door  of  Memorial  Hall 2  00 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


[Profits  on  sales,  $11.43.1 


$61  25 


8  10 


$69  35 


$35  75 


25  59 


$61  34 


$14  75 

66  84 

$81  59 


$54  25 


$155  V, 


$111  30 


67  95 
$170  25 


$69  35 


$69  35 


$8  10 


53  24 


$61  34 


$25  59 


56  00 


$81  59 


$66  84 


78  33 
$145  17 


$90  92 


$88  33 


$179  25 


14 


Items. 


Dn. 


Ce. 


June— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors _.'_       .  ..   . 

Disbursements— 

For  labor  on  grounds $19  25 

assistance  on  excursion days 10  tin 

painting  and  glazing :i  r, 

for  1000  copies  report  of  1875 35  00 

m    .     ,  salary 50  00 

To  balance 

Profits  on  sales,  $29.41.1 

July— 

By  balance ' 

Receipts  from  visitors ". 

Disbursements— 

For  labor  on  grounds $26  75 

assistance  on  excursion  days 8  25 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


$136  75 


48  60 


LProflts  on  sales,  $20.78.1 

August— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors "" 

Disbursements— 

For  repairing  steam  heater 

door  hasp 

coal 

labor   on    grounds  and   assistance   on 

excursion  days 48  31 

salary 50  uo 

To  balance 


$185  35 


$104  75 


28  K, 


$9  50 
2  5(1 
7  47 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $19.38.1 

September— 

By  balance 

Receipts  fro  in  visitors "  " ' 

Disbursements— 

For  si-y the  and  stone $]  85 

printing 2  50 

labor   on   grounds  and    assistance   on 

excursion  days 411  mi 

salary  50  00 

To  balance 


$133  60 


$111 


35  38 


$14(1  03 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $17.93.1 

October— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors • " 

Disbursements—  - 

For  labor  and  assistance  on  excursion  days.    $25  00 

water  tanks 450 

,  salary ; 1 

By  balance 


[Profits  on  sales,  $28.80. 

/ 


I      $100  65 


23  08 

$129  7:; 


$112  25 


November— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors... 
Disbursements— 

For  snow  tools $3  25 

labor  and  assistance 17  50 

salary! 50  00 

By  balance 


1  Profits  on  sales,  $19.07.1 


$112  25 


$9  07 
01  7:, 


$71  42 


$07  95 


117  40 


$185  35 


$4*      Oil 


$85  00 


$133  60 


$2S  S5 


117  78 


$140  63 


$35  38 


94  35 


$129  73 


$23  08 


79  50 
9  07 


$112  25 


$70  75 
07 


$71  42 


15 


Items. 

Dr. 

Ck. 

December— 

To  balance 

(17 
$51  25 

34  08 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  scoup $1  50 

labor  and  assistance 34  50 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 

$86  00 

[Profits  on  sales,  $16.27.1 

$86  00 

$86  00 

Totals  for  the  year  187<» — 

Receipts $961  95 

Due  the  Custodian 34  08 

990  93 

Expenditures $996  03 

Profits  on  sales,  $209.37. 

By  the  above  statement  it  will  be  seen  that  the  expenditures 
have  been  $34.08  more  than  the  receipts.  In  other  words,  I  have 
paid  out  so  much  for  labor  and  necessary  articles  used  about  the 
Monument  and  grounds,  that  there  is  a  deficiency  in  my  own 
salary,  to  that  amount.  Subtracting  that  from  the  salary,  and 
adding  the  amount  derived  from  the  sales  of  books  and  pictures, 
leaves  the  whole  amount  received  for  my  services  $775.20. 

At  the  close  of  summer,  the  drives  and  grounds  were  in  perfect 
order.  The  new  tile  drain  from  the  Hall,  and  the  brick  building 
erected  over  the  steam  heating  apparatus,  has  added  perceptibly 
to  the  comfort  of  visitors  to  Memorial  Hall,  and  to  the  certainty 
of  keeping  it  dry  through  all  changes  of  weather. 

It  was  my  intention  to  have  made  a  full  report  at  this  time,  of 
the  attempt  to  steal  the  remains  of  President  Lincoln  on  the 
night  of  November  7th,  1876.  On  mature  reflection  I  have  de- 
cided to  defer  that  until  after  the  trial  of  the  two  men  who  are 
now  in  jail  in  this  city,  charged  with  the  crime.  Some  facts  will 
be  developed  on  the  trial,  that  it  would  be  improper  to  incorporate 
in  a  report  now.  After  the  trial  I  will  make  a  special  report  on 
the  subject.* 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Memorial  Hall,  National  Lincoln  Monument, 

J.  G.  Power,  Custodian. 
Springeield,  III.,  January  4th,  1877. 

Since  the  close  of  the  first  year  there  has  not  been  a  formal 
approval  of  any  annual  report,  nor  a  re-appointment,  but  I  was 
told  by  the  Executive  Committee  to  go  on  discharging  the  duties 
of  Custodian  indefinitely. 


*This  is  deferred  indefinitely,  but  will  appear  in  connection  with  some  other 
publication. 


n; 


THIRD  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1877. 


Items. 


Dr. 


Ce. 


January— 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  making  fires  and  assistance $17  50 

coal 17  36 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


[Profits  on  sales  of  pictures,  books,  etc.,  $24. 89.1 

February— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements—    • 

For  making  fires  and  assistance $17  50 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


[Profits  on  sales,  $25.58.1 

March- 
By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  extra  brick  work  on  the  boiler  house,  in 

October,  1876 $30  00 

guarding  Monument  in  Oct.,  and  Nov.    ■ 

1876 10  50 

making  fires 7  50 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


$57  25 

$84  86 

27  til 

$84  86  $84  86 


$71   75 


$27  61 


67  50 


23  36 

$'J5  11  $95~11 


$49  25 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $18.75.1 

April— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor  on  Monument  and  grounds $23  75 

on  Lincoln's  old  surveying  instruments    Umi  00 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


72  11 
$121  36 


$23  36 


98  00 
$121  36 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $15.11.1 


$71  25 


171  i',| 


$72  11 


173  75 


$245  86    ;      $245  86 


May— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors $ljn  ;;, 

Disbursements— 

For  lumber  in  coal  bin $27  63 

for  labor  on  Monument  and  grounds 27  50 

salary 50  00 

To  balance i;,l'  99 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $26.48. 


$27!»  71 


$174  61 


105  13 


$279  74 


June— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors f. $12<i  75 

Disbursements— 

For  tin  piping  and  guttering  on  heater  house     $8  20 

paint  and  painting :;  in 

labor  and  assistance,  excursion  days. . .      22  50 

salary  50  on 

To  balance Hi;  :;i 


$152  99 


84  10 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $22.46.1 


$237  09 


$237  09 


17 


IT2MS. 

Dk. 

1 

Ce. 

July— 

$87  75 

112  65 

$200  40 

$116  34 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements- 
coal  

salary 1 

$12  50 
21  511 
50  (1(1 

84  06 

To  balance ; 

[Profits  on  sales.  $11.58.1 

$200  40 

August— 

Bv  balance 

$127  75 

74  95 

$202  70 

$112  65 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  painting  boiler  house  and  memorial  hall    $10  so 

labor  on  monument  and  grounds 29  25 

salary 5000 

90  05 

To  balance 

[Profits  on  sales,  $21.55.1 

$202  70 

September— 

Bv  balance 

$07  25 

35  45 
$132  70 

$74  95 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  hard  ware 

..      $7  75 

salary 

__      5(1  00 

57  75 

To  balance 

1  Profits  on  sales,  $22.48.1 

$132  70 

October— 

Bv  balance 

$84  75 
8  95 

$35  45 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

. .      $8  25 

salary 

5(1  00 

58  25 

To  balance 

[Profits  on  sales,  $18.21.1 

$93  70 

$93  70 

NoVEMBFB— 

By  balance 

$5(1  25 
30  70 

$8  95 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

..    $27  00 

repairing  heater 

salary 

1  00 
50  00 

78  (in 

[Profits  on  sales, $9. 75.1 

$86  95 

$86      95 

December— 

By  balance 

$49  75 
51  20 

$30  70 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

$17  25 

a  on 

50  in 

brick  work  under  iron  steps 

salary  

70  25 

To  balance ! 

$1,(151  7( 
$1,051  7( 

[Profits  on  sales,  $8.80.1 

$100  95 

$1'0  95 

Totals  for  the  year  1877 — 

Receipts $1,005  50 

Expenditures 

Profits  on  sales,  $225.91. 

is 

It  was  my  intention  to  have  so  regulated  expenditures  as  to 
bring  them  within  the  amount  received  at  the  Monument,  but  the 
[nfantry  and  Naval  groups  having  remained  on  the  ground  from 
the  time  of  their  arrival  in  April  until  they  were  placed  in  position 
on  the  Monument  in  September,  so  divided  the  attention  of 
visitors  as  to  seriously  interfere  with  the  income.  Placing  the 
statuary  upon  the  Monument  left  the  grounds  in  such  a  condition 
as  to  require  an  unusual  expenditure  for  labor.  When  this  was 
all  done  and  everything  put  in  order,  the  long  continued  rains  cut 
off  a  large  part  of  the  income  for  the  last  three  months  of  the 
year.  These  causes  combined,  leaves  a  deficiency  of  $46.20  which 
added  to  the  §84.08,  in  187(5,  makes  a  deficiency  of  $80.28  in  my 
salary  for  the  two  years. 

The  following  additions  were  made  during  1877,  to  the  collec- 
tion in  Memorial  Hall. 

First. — The  implements  used  hy  the  burglars  in  their  attempt  to 
steal  the  remains  of  President  Lincoln,  on  the  night  of  Novem- 
ber 7,  1876,  were,  after  the  conviction  of  the  criminals,  sent  to 
Washington,  and  at  the  solicitation  of  P.  D.  Tyrrell,  operative  of 
the  United  States  Secret  Service,  returned  to  Springfield  and  by 
him  presented  to  the  Custodian  for  the  Association. 

Second. — A  piece  of  the  dress  worn  by  the  English  actress. 
Laura  Keene,  on  the  night  President  Lincoln  was  assinated,  and 
bearing  stains  made  by  blood  from  his  death  wound,  all  of  which 
is  well  attested,  was  purchased  by  the  Custodian  for  the  sum  of 
$25.00  and  presented  to  the  Monument  Association. 

Third.-  A  portrait  of  Mr.  Lincoln  from  a  photographic  negative 
taken  March  6,  L865  only  forty  days  before  his  death. — and 
believed,  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  to  have  been  the  last  photo- 
graph ever  taken  of  him,  was  purchased  by  the  Custodian,  framed 
and  placed  in  Memorial  Hall. 

Fourth. — A  copy  of  the  book  containing  about  one  thousand 
documents  from  as  many  individuals  and  Societies  in  different 
parts  of  the  world,  all  expressing  abhorrence  of  the  crime  of  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  and  condolence  and  sympathy 
with  the  afflicted  family  and  Nation,  was  donated  for  Memorial 
Kail,  to  the  Custodian  as  a  Christmas  present,  by  Mrs.  Adelia 
Dubois,  widow  of  lion.  .lesse  K.  Dubois,  late  Vice-President  of 
I  he  Association. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 
Memorial  Hall,  National  Lincoln  Monument, 

J.  ( '.  Power,  Custodian. 
Springfield,  111.,  January  5th,  1878. 


19 


FOURTH  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1878. 


Items. 

Dr. 

Cr. 

January— 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $7  50 

salary 50  oo 

$06  75 

$57  50 
9  2.". 

By  balance 

[Profits  on  sales  of  pictures,  books,  etc.,  $12.46.J 

$06  75 

$65  75 

February— 

$9  25 
36  25 

13  00 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  making  fires  and  shoveling  snow. ..    $10  50 
salary 50  00 

$60  50 

To  balance 

1  Profits  on  sales,  $11.08.1 

$60  50 

$60  50 

March— 

By  balance  

$51  75 
20  65 

$13  00 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  making  fires  and  other  labor $9  40 

To  balance _■ 

59  4H 

LProfits  on  sales,  $9.58.1 

$72  40 

$72  40 

April— 

By  balance 

$62  25 
25  15 

$20  65 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements — 

For  making  fires $7  50 

gilding  lettei-s  on  stone  from  Rome 5  25 

blue  grass  seed 4  00 

66  75 

To  balance  

LProfits  on  sales,  $10.40.] 

$87  40 

$87  40 

May- 

By  balance 

$138  25 
11  46 

$25  15 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor  and  materials  about  the  steam 

making  fires 7  50 

repairing  lawn  mower 3  25 

124  50 

To  balance 

[Profits  on  sales,  $23.75.1 

$149  71 

$149  71 

•20 


Items. 


Dr. 


June— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  assistance  on  public  days $8  oo 

restoring  letters  on  stone  from  Rome  ..       3  oo 

labor  on  monument  grounds 71  02 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $10,58.1 

July— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

Fur  assistance  July  4th $2  oo 

painting  bust  of  Lincoln 2  50 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


$109  45 


:;i  63 


$144  08 


$66  25 


22  88 


[Profits  on  sales,  $8.83.1 

AUUUST— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  assistance  two  public  days $4  00 

labor  on  grounds 25  00 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 


$89  13 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $11.22. 1 

Septbmbeb 

By  balance 

Recei pi  s  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor  on  grounds $70  00 

salary 50  oo 

To  balance 


$77  25 


21  63 
$101  88 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $15.88.1 

OCTOBKIi— 

By  balance. 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  evergreens  to  mark  boundary  line  of 

gr nls $2  50 

making  fires 7  50 

harrowing  grounds i  00 

salary 50  00 

To  ba lance 

[Profits  on  sales.  $12. 13. 1 

November— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors '. 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $5  oo 

lumber 49  -10 

salary  50  00 

By  balance 


$73 


?(i  88 
$141  63 


$86  25 


18  63 


$134  88 


$153  2:. 


Profits  Oil  sales,  $25.47. 


$11  40 


132  62 


$144  os 


$34  63 


54  50 


$89  13 


$153  25 


$22  88 


70  mi 


$101  88 


$21  63 


120  no 


$144  63 


$70  88 


64  nil 


$134  88 


$48  63 


104  4"t 
22 

$153  25 


21 


Items. 

Dk. 

Ce. 

Decembek— 

To  balance 

22 

$40  25 

34  38 

88  15 

Receipts  for  firewood..-                              

Disbursements- 

$52  '.14 

steel  shovel 

coal 

grass  seed  . 
hardware  . 

1  25 
39  56 

7  85 
6  9n 

sash  and  sin 

itt 

3r  . . 

4  50 

salary 

. . .       50  00 

$163  00 

To  balance - 

on 

sales 

$9.50.1 

$998  08 
88  15 

$1,086  23 

1  Profits 

$163  00 

$163  00 

Totals  for  the  year  1878— 

Expenditures 

Due  the  Custodian 

hi 

sales, 

$163.88. 

Total 

$1,086  23 

$1,086  23 

Profits 

By  comparing  the  receipts  and  expenditures  for  each  year,  it 
will  be  seen  that  for  1875,  there  was  a  balance  of  $8.01,  in  favor 
of  the  Association.  For  each  of  the  succeeding  years  there  has 
been  a  deficiency  in  the  receipts  to  meet  the  necessary  expendi- 
tures. That  for  1876  was  §34.08 ;  for  1877,  $46.20 ;  and  for  1878, 
$88.15.  Add  the  three  together  and  deduct  the  balance  in  favor 
of  the  Association  for  1875,  leaves  -$160.42,  as  the  deficiency  in 
my  salary  for  the  four  years  I  have  been  in  charge  of  the  Monu- 
ment. In  my  special  report;  in  October,  1878,  on  the  effect  of  the 
south  gate  being  closed  during  the  months  of  June,  July,  August 
and  September  of  that  year,  and  other  obstructions  in  the  way  of 
strangers  desiring  to  visit  the  Monument,  I  said  the  deficiency 
was  about  $250.00,  which  was  then  true.  But  the  assembling  of 
the  State  Grand  Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows  here  in  November,  unex- 
pectedly increased  the  receipts  nearly  one  hundred  dollars  above 
what  it  had  ever  been  in  that  month  before,  and  leaves  the  lesult 
as  above  stated.  There  is  a  credit  for  tire-wood  taken  from  the 
Monument  grounds,  of  $34.38,  in  the  column  of  receipts  from 
visitors,  which,  if  deducted  from  the  year's  receipts,  would  leave 
$963.70  as  the  actual 'amount  coming  into  the  hands  of  the  Cus- 
todian from  visitors  during  1878,  including  about  $100.00  collec- 
ted by  keeping  the  Monununt  open  two  or  three  hours  every  Sun- 
day afternoon.     This  shows  a  retrograde  movement  where  there 


22 

should  have  been  a  steady  advance,  and  undoubtedly  would  have 
been  were  it  not  that  obstructions  were  placed  in  the  way  of  visi- 
tors during  the  four  best  summer  months,  as  fully  set  forth  in  my 
special  report  of  October,  1878. 

The  most  vexatious  feature  of  all  came  from  the  peculations 
of  an  untrustworthy  employe  of  my  own,  the  extent  of  which 
cannot  be  ascertained.  If  it  could.  I  would  do  my  utmost  to 
make  it  good  to  the  Association,  as  it  was  through  favor  to  me. 
that  the  Executive  Committee  consented  to  my  employing  him. 

The  additions  to  Memorial  Hall,  during  the  year  1878,  were  : 

First. — A  photographic  copy  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
(toy.  Michael  Hahn,  the  first  free  State  Governor  of  Louisiana  ; 
donated  by  Gen.  J.  N.  Reece. 

second. — A  lithographic  copy  of  the  original  Emancipation  Pro- 
clamation ;  donated  by  Mrs.  J.  C.  Power. 

Third. — Three  maps  of  the  Gettysburg  battle  field,  one  each  for 
the  first,  second  and  third  days;  donated  by  Col.  A.  0.  Vincent, 
of  the  U.  S.  Army,  (now  of  Springfield.) 

Fourth. — A  piece  of  a  rebel  flag  that  cost  Col.  E.  E.  Ellsworth 
his  life,  at  Alexandria,  Virginia.  May  24,  1861;  with  a  letter  de- 
scribing an  interview  between  President  Lincoln  and  the  avenger 
of  Ellsworth,  by  the  side  of  his  dead  body;  donated  by  Lieut. 
Frank  E.  Brownell,  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  (now  of  St.  Loui*.  i 

Fifth. — A  photographic  copy  of  the  letter  written  by  Mr.  Lin- 
coln to  the  ''Little  Girl,"  who  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  letting 
his  whiskers  grow;  taken  from  the  original  which  was  kindly 
loaned  for  the  purpose  by  the  little  girl  herself,  who  is  now  a 
married  lady  of  Delphos,  Ottowa  county,   Kansas. 

Sixth. — A  cross  of  lowers  placed  on  Mr.  Lincoln's  coffin,  by 
the  ladies  of  the  U.  S.  Sanitary  Commission  in  Philadelphia; 
donated  by  lion.  Lyman  Trumbull. 

Seventh.— The  first  copy  of  the  Illinois  State  Journal,  announc- 
ing the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  taken  from  the  press 
by  Thomas  Knox  ;  donated  by  the  Custodian. 

Eighth. — An  addition  previously  overlooked,  is  a  copy  of  the 
Declaration  of  American  Independence,  secured,  framed  and 
placed  in  Memorial  Hall  by  the  Custodian. 


Soon  after  the  Infantry  and  Naval  groups  of  Statuary  were 
placed  in  position  and  the  new  drives  laid  out,  bringing  the  whole 
seven  and  one-third  acres  of  land  at  that  time  belonging  to  the 
Association  in  harmony  with  the  Monument  and  surroundings,  I 
wrote  an  account  of  it,  which  appeared  in  the  daily  Journal  of 
November  '29th,  1877.  In  that  article  I  find  the  following- 
language  : 

"Standing  on  the  Terrace,  over  Memorial  Hall,  and  looking 
south  we  see  two  somewhat  irregular  pieces  of  ground,  from  one 
hundred  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  diameter,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  main  approach  to  the  Monument.  The  remains 
of  two  of  the  Governors  of  the  State  of  Illinois  are  interred  in 
Oak  Ridge  Cemetery ;  Edwards  and  Bissell.  Why  not  move  them 
to  these  two  circles,  bringing  the  monument  erected  by  the  State 
to  the  memory  of  Governor  Bissell?  Another  thought  has  often 
occured  to  me,  that  the  State  of  Illinois  has  not  been  true  to  her- 
self, in  failing  to  erect  a  monument  to  her  first  and  only  Terri- 
torial Governor,  who  afterwards  served  her  as  United  States 
Senator,  and  again  as  Governor  of  the  State.  The  State  should 
certainly  erect  a  twin  monument  to  that  of  Governer  Bissell,  over 
the  remains  of  Governor  Edwards.  The  approach  to  the  Lincoln 
Monument  between  these  two  would  kindle  the  latent  sparks  of 
patriotism  in  the  breast  of  any  man  or  woman  worthy  of  Ameri- 
can citizenship.  The  Lincoln  Monument  Association  might 
tender  to  the  State  of  Illinois  sites  upon  which  to  inter,  arid  erect 
monuments  to  all  Governors  of  the  State  already  deceased,  whose 
friends  are  willing  that  the  removals  should  be  made,  and  erect 
cenotaphs  or  statues  to  those  buried  elsewhere.  They  might  also 
set  apart  the  remainder  of  the  grounds  and  keep  them  ornamen- 
ted, to  be  used  for  the  burial  of  a  long  line  of  future  Governors  of 
the  State.  In  that  way  the  grounds  might  become,  as  it  were, 
a  Westminister  Abbey  for  the  State  of  Illinois." 

;'AVhy  would  it  not  be  well  now  for  the  National  Lincoln  Moun- 
ment  Association  to  tender  a  part  of  its  grounds  for  the  purpose 
designated  ?  If  accepted  by  the  State,  the  Legislature  could  at 
once  inaugurate  the  work  by  taking  the  necessary  steps  to  place 
the  two  first  named  monuments  in  position  ;  and  in  order  to  make 
it  more  easy  of  access,  they  might  be  induced  to  make  a  small 
appropriation  for  the  building  of  two  iron  foot  bridges  from  the 
end  of  the  Fifth  Street  railway  to  the  Monument. 


•J! 

"No  good  citizen  would  think  of  loading  the  Slate  with  anything 
that  can  be  made  self-sustaining,  while  so  many  charitable  insti- 
tutions must  be  supported  wholly  from  its  revenues.  Supposing 
all  the  visitors  to  the  Monument  were  citizens  of  Illinois,  I  find 
'li.it  but  one  in  six  hundred  of  them  visit  it  annually.  It  would 
manifestly  be  more  in  accordance  with  justice  to  let  each  one 
who  does  make  such  a  visit  pay  his  or  her  own  expenses,  rather 
than  tax  the  live  hundred  and  ninety-nine  who  stay  at  home, 
for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  expenses  of  the  one  pleasure-seeker. 
Extending  the  simile  to  the  whole  Nation,  it  would  be  taxing 
9,<)(.)(.)  citizens  who  stay  at  home,  to  pay  the  admittance  fee  of  the 
one  in  10,000  who  visit  the  Monument.  Such  reasoning  I  am 
frequently  called  upon  to  exercise  in  answering  a  small  class  or  a 
class  of  small  visitors,  who  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  are 
live  times  as  much  trouble  to  wait  upon  as  all  others." 

[Kemarks  on  the  management  of  other  monuments  and  places  of 
public  interest,  are  transferred  with  everything  on  that  subject, 
to  the  closing  part  of  the  report  for  1883.] 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Memorial  Hall,  National  Lincoln  Monument. 

J.  C.  Power,  Custodian. 
Si'uixcxFiELD,  HI.,  January  6th,  1S7(.>. 


25 


FIFTH  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1879. 


Items. 


Dr. 


Ce. 


January— 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  Salt,  to  put  on  ice 

shoveling  snow  and  ice. 

salary  of  the  Custodian.. 

By  balance 


$1  20 
3  25 

50  00 


[Profits  from  sales,  $10.75.1 

February— 

To  balance r . 

Receipts  f.om  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  shoveling, snow 

salary  of  the  Custodian 

By  balance 


$1  50 
50  00 


[Profits  from  sales,  $23.52.] 


March- 
To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 
Disbursements- 
Salary 

By  balance 


$50  00 


[Profits  from  sales,  $19.30.1 


April— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

salary  of  the  Custodian. 
By  balance 


$1!)  15 
50  00 


[Profits  from  sales,  $23.43.] 


May— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

book  to  register  visitors. 

blue  grass  seed 

salary  of  the  Custodian.. . . 
By  balance 


$13  75 

20  oo 

5  65 

50  00 


[Profits  from  sales,  $24.08.] 

June— 

To  b  al  anc  e 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

grindstone,  hoe,    rake    and    monkey- 
wrench , 

salary  of  the  Custodian 

By  balance P: 


$20  25 
7  25 

:o  oo 


[Profits  from  sales,  $23.48.1 


—3 


$08  65 


$68  65 


$14  20 
78  25 


$92  15 


$40  95 
75  50 


$116  45 


$66  45 
75  00 


$141  ^5 


$72  30 
157  75 


$230  H5 


$54  45 
14  20 

$i;s  65 


$51  50 
40  95 

$92  45 


$50  00 
66  45 

$116  45 


$69  15 
72  30 


$141  45 


$89  40 
140  65 

$230  05 


$140  65 
113  25 


$253  90 


$77  50 
176  40 

$253  90 


26 


Items. 


Dr. 


Cb. 


July— 

to  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $1123 

salary  of  the  Custodian 5n  no 

By  balance 

I  Profits  from  sales.  $22.38.] 

August— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $12  50 

twoframes,  with  glass 4  5" 

coal 32  8S 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance ; 

[Profits  from  sales,  $22.43.1 

September— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $13  00 

drain  tile  and  lumber 6  84 

oil  cloth  and  holland 5  27 

coal 24  00 

tacks,  snap,  tape,   twine,  etc 2  65 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

To  balance  at  the  close  of  1875.  

By  balance  at  the  close  of  l\76 

By  balance  at  the  close  of  1877 

By  balance  at  the  close  <  >t  1878     

By  cash  to  J.  T  Stuart,  of  the  Executive  Committee.. 

I  Profits  from  sales,  $25.46.1 

iFor  the  hi  st  time  the  income  is  sufficient  to  defray  all  ex- 
penses  and  pay  a  small  amount  into  the  treasury.l 

October— 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $59  88 

hard  brick X,   70 


$176  40 
93  75 

$61  25 
208  90 

$270  15 

$270  15 

$208  90 
103  75 

$99  88 
212  77 

$312  65 

$312  65 

$212  77 
117  75 

hardware 

grass  seed 

lime,  lumber  and  tilt- 

repairing  heater 

hauling   

salary  of  the  1  lustodian 

By  ca»h  paid  to  ihe  Executive  Committ. 
By  balance.  <-ash  on  hand 


3  85 

1  43 

2  80 
2  36 

lu  50 
50  00 


I  Profits  from  sales.  $44.13. 

Ni'VKMI'.F.R— 

To  balance 

To  receipts  from  visitors ..,. 

Disbursements— 

For  hard  burned  brick *Hi  25 

labor    :':,  » 

paint  ami   putty 70 

repairing  heater 1  20 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

To  cash  to  balance  from  Executive  Committee 


I  Profits  on  sales,  $13,38  1 


8  01 


$269  75 


|269  75 


$16  25 

53  ;:. 


21  03 


$101  76 


34  08 
46  20 

88  15 

68  34 

$338  53 

$338  53 

$168  52 
84  98 
16  25 


$269  ::. 


$94  03 


$94  03 


$94  03 


27 


Items. 

De.               Ck. 

Decembeb— 

$43  90 
6  10 

Disbursements— 

Salarv  of  the  Custodian $50  00 

$50  00 

To  cash  to  balance  from  Executive  Committee 

[Profits  on  sales,  $15.56.1 

$50  00 

$50  00 

Totals  for  the  year  1879— 

Receipts $1,251  05 

Profits  on  sales,  $267  90 

With  this  annual  report  all  arrearages  in  the  Custodian's 
salary  are  settled,  and  all  bills  paid.  The  holding  of  the  State 
Fair  in  Springfield  was  the  principal  cause  of  the  increased  re- 
ceipts from  visitors. 

J.  C.  Power,  Custodian. 


SIXTH  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1880- 


Items. 


De. 


Ck. 


January— 

To  receipts  for  the  admittance  of  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $6  38 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance 

[Profits  on  sales  of  pictures,  books,  etc.,  $20.13.1 

February— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements — 

For  labor $1  50 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance 

[Profits  on  sales,  16.17.1 

March- 
To  balance  last  month 

Receipts  from  visitors : 

Disbursements— 

Forlabor $15  00 

repairing  heater 7  37 

salary  of  Custodian 50  00 

To  balance 

[Profits  on  sales,  $6.72.] 


$61  75 


$61  75 


$5  37 
58  00 


$63  37 


$11  87 
59  75 


75 


$72  37 


$56  38 
5  37 


$61  75 


$51  50 
11  87 

$63  37 


$72  37 


$72  37 


•is 


Items 

Dr. 

Cb. 

April— 

By  balance  last  month 

$108  75 
$108  75 

7:. 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements- 

$2  50 

5  70 

2  50 

2  0(1 

30  00 

50  00 

work  on  ceiling  of  Memorial  Hall  and 
Catacomb 

hauling  flowers  and  plants  for  decora- 
tion   

boquets 

labor 

salary  

$92  70 

By  balance 

15  30 

1  Profits  on  sales,  $15.81.1 

May- 

To  balance  last  month 

$108  75 

$15  30 

159  25 

To  receiptsfor  the  admittance  of  visitors 

Disbursements — 

For  coal 

lawn  mower,  oil  can,  rake  and  grass 
hook 

$9  99 

18  95 
21  48 
2  05 
46  75 
50  00 

drain  tile  and  lumber 

paint  and  oil 

$149  22 

By  balance 

25  33 

[Profits  on  sales,  $14.27.1 

June— 

To  balance  last  month 

$174  55 

$174  55 

$25  33 
96  50 

$121  83 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

$38  00 

9  00 

50  00 

hauling  earth 

$97  00 

Bybalance 

L4  83 

[Profits  on  sales,  $14.08.1 

JUIiT— 

To  balance  last  month 

$121  as 

$24  83 
94  75 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

$22  50 
ti  50 
50  00 

wire  protection  on  chairs 

salary  of  the  Custodian 

$79  00 

By  balance 

40  58 

[Profits  on  sales  of  pictures,  $11.83.] 

$119  58 

$119  58 

August— 

To  balance  last  month 

$40  58 
102  75 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

$5  3-i 
1  75 
:;  85 

50  on 

wood  for  notices  to  "keep  off  the  grass" 
work  oil  the  Monument 

salary  of  the  Custodian 

$oi>  98 

By  balance 

82  35 

/ 

1  Profits  on  sales,  $21.50.1 

$143  33 

$143  33 

29 


Items. 


Dr. 


Ce. 


September— 

To  balance  last  month 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements  - 

For  labor $33  75 

hauling 10  50 

two  show  cases 3105 

lumber  and  drain  tile 13  27 

painting-   and   lettering  "keep    off  the 

grass" 13  92 

hardware 2  40 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance,  being  the  accumulation  of  surplus  re- 
ceipts in  June,  July,  August,  and  by  cash  paid 
to  the  Executive  Committee 

[Profits  on  sales  of  pictures,  $27.47.] 

October— 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $37  50 

painting  Iron  steps 20  00 

grass  seed  2  50 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance 

lProfits  on  sales  of  pictures,  $22.47.1 

November— 

To  balance 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  coal  $27  72 

salary 50  00 

By  balance 

[Profits  on  sales,  $12.47.1 

December— 

To  balance 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $21  53 

repairing  heater 11  81 

salary 50  00 

By  balance  paid  to  the  Executive  Committee 


[Profits  on  sales,  $16.10.1 


Totals  for  the  year  1880— 

Receipts $1,204  75 

Expenditures 1,204  75 


$K2  35 
190  25 


[Profits  on  sales,  $199.08.] 


$272  CO 


$135  75 


$154  89 

$117  71 

$272  60 


$110  00 
25  75 

$135  75 

$135  75 

$25  75 
62  75 

$77  72 
10  7^ 

$88  50 

$88  50 

$10  78 
74  50 

$83  34 
1  94 

$85  28 

$85  28 

Note. — Having  verified  the  fact  that  the  profits  on  sales  of 
books  and  pictures  average  but  little  more  than  two  hundred  dol- 
lars annually,  and  that  being  conceded  to  the  Custodian  as  a 
supplement  to  his  small  salary,  it  was  deemed  by  the  chairman 
of  the  Executive  Committee  unnecessary  to  make  any  further 
reports  of  sales. 


30 

The  opening  of  the  Citizens'  Street  Railway  September  5th. 
L880,  landing  passengers  within  less  thftti  one  hundred  yards  of 
the  Monument  at  the  west  side,  effectually  overcomes  the  possi- 
bility of  obstructions  being  again  placed  in  the  way  of  visitors. 
The  Fifth  street  line,  or  City  Railway,  continues  to  land  passen- 
gers on  the  east  side,  as  it  has  done  for  years.  This  gives  access 
to  the  Monument  by  two  street  railways  and  two  carriage  drives. 

J.  C.  Power,  Custodian. 


SEVEN  i'H  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1881- 


Items. 


Dr. 


Ck. 


January— 

To  receipts  for  the  admittance  of  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  glazing $2  00 

hauling  water 3  75 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance 


February— 

To  balance  last  month  

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 
For  salary  of  the  Custodian. 
By  balance 


March- 
To  balance 

Receipts  for  admittance  of  visitors 

Disbursements— 

Fpr  labor $19  00 

blacking  letters  on  stone  from  Rome...       2  1<> 

lawn   rakrs 80 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance 


April— 

To  balance 

Receipts  for  the  admittance  of  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $29  76 

hauling '    6  00 

work  on  boiler I  0U 

coal lo  90 

salary  of  the  Custodian  60  on 

To  balance 


$77  75 


$77  75 


$22  00 
43  75 


$65 


$15  ;■> 

61  7.-, 


$77  5d 


$5  mi 
83  75 


8  31 
$97  66 


$55  75 
22  00 


$77  7.5 


$50  00 
15  75 


$65  75 


$71  90 
5  60 


$77  50 


$97  66 


$97  66 


31 


Items. 


Dk. 


Ce. 


May- 

By  ba'ance 

To  receipts  from  visitors , 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

coal 

hardware  

salary  of  the  Custodian. 
Ey  balance 


$37  75 

2  25 

3  10 

50  00 


June— 

To  balance 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $58  05 

salary  of  the  Custodian li  50  00 

By  balance 


July—* 

To  balance 

To  receipts  for  admittance  of  visitors 

Disbursements — 

For  labor $40  75 

padlocks 2  38 

stones  for  landmarks 1  50 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance 


August— 

To  balance 

To  receipts  for  the  admittance  of  visitors 

To  Are  wood 

Disbursements— 

For  labor .' $31  63 

hardware 3  00 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  cash  paid  to  the  Executive  Committee 


September— 

To  receipts  for  admittance  of  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $42  50 

mending  lock 1  50 

hauling:  water fi  00 

lumber 115 

dry  goods  to  drape  the  monument  on 
the  death  of  President  Garfield,  (half 

cost) 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance 


9  50 


OCTOBEK— ^ 

To  balvrtice  

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $39  63 

blue  grass  seed  3  90 

coal 26  40 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance  


$143 


$143  75 


$42  34 
98  75 


$141  09 


$33  04 
101  25 


$134  29 


$33  66 
113  75 

2  00 


$149  41 


$132  25 


$8  31 


93  10 
42  34 


$132  25 


$21  60 
112  25 


$133  85 


$143  75 


$108  05 
33  04 

$141  09 


$loo  63 
33  66 


$134  29 


$84  63 
64  7s 

$149  41 


$110  65 
21  60 


$132  25 


$119  93 
13  92 

$133  85 


32 


Items. 

Dr. 

Cr. 

November— 

To  balance 

$13  92 
84  75 

Disbursements  - 

For  iron  work $2  10 

labor 22  lit 

painting  ceiling  of  Memorial  Hall 15  ;i 

salarv  of  the  Custodian                50  00 

$90  03 
8  64 

By  balance  

$98  67 

$98  67 

December— 

$8  64 
75  25 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $15  32 

sewer  pipe 12  11 

steam  cement  for  joints  in  the  Terrace.       3  70 

salary 50  00 

By  balance  paid  to  the  Executive  Committee 

$81  13 
2  76 

$83  89 

$83  89 

Totals  for  the  year  1881— 

Receipts                                                                   $1,129  00 

Expenditures $1,129  00 

The  additions  to  Memorial  Hall  during  the  year  were : 

First. — A  small  dish  used  as  a  toilet  soap  holder,  hy  Abraham 
Lincoln.     Presented  by  Marion  T.  Hutson. 

Second.— A  piece  of  oak  wood  in  the  form  of  a  paper  ruler, 
from  a  bridge  at  Greenup,  Illinois,  upon  which  Lincoln  labored 
in  building,  in  1832.  Presented  by  Mark  Sperry,  through  Gov. 
Cullom. 

Third. — Louisiana's  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln— a  small  printed  volume.  Presented  by  Judge  Whittaker, 
of  New  Orleans. 

Fourth. — A  photographic  picture  of  the  Lincoln  Guard  of 
Honor  in  a  group,  and  in  a  gilded  frame.  Presented  by  the 
members  of  that  organization. 

By  order  of  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart,  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  the  Monument  was  draped  in  mourning,  on  the  death 
of  President  Garfield,  by  intertwining  black  and  white  muslin 
from  bottom  to  top  of  the  obelisk,  and  around  the  balustrades  on 
the  terrace.  This  is  probably  the  first  instance  on  record  of  the 
tomb  of  one  National  ruler  having  been  dressed  in  the  liabili- 
mentsof  mourning  on  the  death  of  another;  the  black,  to  indi- 
cate the  diabolical  crime  that  caused  his  untimely  death,  and  the 


white,  his  welcome  to  scenes  immortal.  It  remained  from  the 
time  of  his  death,  Sept.  19th,  until  the  body  was  placed  in  the 
tomb  at  Clevelaud,  Ohio.  After  the  drapery  was  arranged,  the 
Custodian  sent  a  small  contribution  to  the  president  of  Lake 
View  cemetery  at  Cleveland,  with  the  accompanying  note  : 

"Memorial  Hall,  National  Lincoln  Monument, 

September  22,  1881. 
"Presiding  Officer  Lake  View  Cemetery, 

Cleveland,  Ohio: 

"Dear  Sir: — While  the  colored  people,  in  commemoration  of 
the  nineteenth  anniversary  of  the  Preliminary  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  are  flocking  to  this,  their  Mecca,  I  send  you  tl  is 
contribution,  to  aid  in  building  an  equally  imposing  mausoleum 
to  the  twin  martyr,  in  the  cause  of  pure  government. 

"This  Monument  is  draped  in  mourning  from  bottom  to  top,  in 
sympathy  with  the  present  great  National  sorrow. 

J.  C.  Power,  Custodian." 


EIGHTH  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1882. 


Items. 

Dr. 

"  Cr. 

January— 

$74  25 

Disbursements- 

For  labor. 

,$8  75 

snow  shovel 

salary  of  the  Custodian 

1  S3 

SO  01) 

$K1  33 

12  92 

$74  25 

$74  25 

February— 

$12  92 

07  25 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements- 

steam  cement 

3  65 

salary  of  the  Custodian 

.Ml   Oil 

$78  47 

By  balance 

1  70 

$80  17 

$80  17 

March- 
To  balance 

$1  70 
84  75 

4  08 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

$35  68 

ti n ner's  work ; 

salary  of  the  Custodian 

235 

so  on 

$90  53 

To  balance 

$'.i(i  53 

$90  53 

34 


Items. 

Dk. 

Ck. 

April  - 

$88  75 

$4  08 

To  receipts  from  visitors ... 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

Bv  balance 

$30  75 
50  00 

80  75 
3  92 

$88  75 

$88  75 

May— 

$3  92 
161  75 

To  receipts  from  visitors -  

Disbursements— 

For  labor  

coal 

flowers 

41  69 

27  xi 

8  80 

(,  50 

7  00 

50  OG 

Presbyterian  Gen'l  Assembly  register. 
cedar  posts 

salary  of  the  Custodian 

$141  80 

By  balance  

23  87 

$165  67 

$165  67 

June— 

To  balance 

$23  87 

124  75 

$148  62 

Disbursements- 

37  88 
4  50 

3  (III 
111  67 

3  (Ml 
50  00 

coal 

barbed  wire 

flowers...    

s  ilary  of  the  Custodian 

By  balance    

$109  05 
39  57 

$14S  62 

July— 

To  balance         

9  57 
114  75 

$154  32 

Disbursements — 

For  labor 

steam  fitting 

$45  50 
4  25 

4  5(1 
1  50 

5 

hail  liny  

salary  ol  the  Custodian 

$105  75 

48  57 

$154  32 

August— 

To  balance 

$1-  57 
136  25 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor  

$30  7.". 
3  00 

4roo 

20  76 

50  00 

flowersat  Mrs.  Lincoln's  funeral 

paint  ins.'  ceiliugs 

salary  of  the  <  lustodian 

$109  51 

By  balance  paid  the  Executive  Committee 

;;,  31 

i 

$184  82 

$184  82 

September— 

$137  25 

Disbursements— 

For  labor 

-train  ci  ■  in  rut 

$22  .Mi 

6  00 

41  94 

50  oo 

coal 

rv  of  the  Custodian  

By  balance    

$120  44 
16  81 

$137  25 

$137  25 

35 


Items. 

Dr. 

Cr. 

October— 

To  balance 

$16  81 
101  75 

$118  56 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements — 

For  labor $21  50 

steam  cement 14  60 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

$86  10 

By  balance 

32  46 

$118  56 

November— 

To  balance 

$32  46 

83  75 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $20  50 

steam  cement 8  50 

salary 50  00 

$79  (10 

By  balance 

37  21 

$116  21 

$116  21 

December— 

To  balance 

$37  21 
64  75 

$101  1)6 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor .    $1150 

steel  scam> 1  75 

steel   caulking  tools,    asbestos   paper, 
felting  and  labor  on  steam  pipes                18  75 

salary 50  00 

Bv  balance  paid  to  the  Executive  Committee 

$98  00 
3  96 

/ 

$101  96 

Totals  for  the  year  1882— 

Receipts $1,240  00 

Expenditures 1,240  00 

Under  the  joint  resolution  of  the  United  States  House  of  Bep- 
resentatives,  of  January  23d,  1880,  and  of  the  Senate,  February, 
23d,  1881,  concerning  relics  to  be  sent  from  the  War  and  State 
Departments  to  Memorial  Hall,  the  only  article  received  thus  far 
is  one  copy  of  "Tributes  of  the  Nations  to  the  memory  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,"  and  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  spared. 

Hon.  W.  M.  Springer  has  been  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  have 
the  provisions  of  the  joint  resolution  complied  with,  but  obstacles 
have  presented  themselves  at  various  points,  and  the  probability  is 
that  we  will  never  receive  half  that  was  ordered  in  that  resolu- 
tion. Secretary  Frelinghuysen,  some  months  ago,  made  arrange- 
ments with  J.  K.  Osgood  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  to  have 
reproduced,  by  theheliotype  process  of  engraving,  about  one  hun- 
dred of  the  memorials  that  are  on  parchment.  In  a  letter  dated 
Washington,  December  14th,  1882,  Mr.  Springer  says:  "The 
work  is  progressing  slowly,  but  well.  It  will  contain  a  portrait  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  and  a  reproduction  of  the  x\merican  flag,  presented 
to  him  by  the  workingmen  of  Lyons,  France.     The  printing  pro- 


36 

gresses  slowly,  but  you  will  be  the  more  gratified  in  the  end." 
Mr.  Springer  assures  me  that  he  will  have  at  least  one  dozen 
copies  sent  to  Memorial  Hall. 

When  I  took  charge  of  the  Monument,  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee well  know  that  every  point  was  guarded  against  an  excess 
of  expenses  over  the  income.  My  salary  was  made  ridiculously 
small,  but  supplemented  with  the  privilege  of  selling  suitable 
books  and  pictures,  the  profits  on  which  should  be  exclusively  my 
own.  Other  parties  often  came  and  took  pictures  without  even 
asking  leave.  For  a  time  I  made  no  objection,  but  soon  learned 
that  the  artists  who  came  in  this  way  were  invariably  incompetent, 
and  that  their  efforts  were  little  better  than  caricatures,  and 
seriously  interfered  with  the  sale  of  good  pictures.  Upon  calling 
attention  to  it,  the  Committee  verbally  authorized  me  to  forbid 
the  taking  of  pictures  except  with  my  consent.  Still  there  were 
parties  determined  to  take  them  surreptitiously.  Then  the  Com* 
mittee  gave  me  the  following  paper : 

"Mr.  J.  C.  Power, 

"Sir:— From  and  after  Monday,  April  '24th,  1882,  you  will 
please  control  the  taking  of  photographic  views  of  the  Lincoln 
Monument  until  further  orders  of  the  Association  or  its  Executive 

Committee. 

John  T   Stuart,  )     Execntive 
John  Williams,   ^Committee.» 

April  18th,  1882.  James  Conklino.  ) 

As  a  precedent  in  similiar  cases,  I  refer  to  the  frequent  mention 
of  intruders,  for  the  purpose  of  surreptitiously  taking  photographic 
views,  in  the  article  on  Mount  Vernon. 

J.  C.  Power,  Custodian. 


37 


NINTH  ANNUAL  H  EPORT,  1883. 


Items. 


Db. 


Ce. 


$70  50 


Januaey— 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $15  50 

salt  to  remove  ice 50 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

By  balance  cash  on  hand 


Febbuaby— 

To  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $15  50 

long  ladder 3  50 

snow  shovels .       1  00 

salt 1  25 

salary 50  00 

By  balance 

Maech— 

To  balance  last  month J 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $36  5" 

repairing  heater 5  85 

salary 5  >  00 

To  balance 

Apeil— 

By  balance 

Receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $38  00 

salary 50  00 

To  balance 

May— 

By  balance 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $41  25 

drain  tile 7  50 

salary 50  00 

By  balance 

June— 

To  balance,  cash  on  hand 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $43  31 

hauling  and  mowing 14  50 

screen  frame 3  85 

salary 50  00 

By  balance,  cash  on  hand 


$7li  50 


$10  50 
63  75 


$74  25 


$3  00 
87  25 


2  10 


)2  35 


16  25 


3  85 


$90  10 


$141  25 


$141  25 


$39  05 
127  75 


$167  40 


$66  00 
10  50 

$76  50 


$71  25 
3  00 

$74  25 


$92  35 


$92  35 


$2  10 


88  00 


$90  10 


$3  85 


97  75 
39  65 

$141  25 


$111  66 
55  74 

$167  40 


38 


Items. 


Cb. 


July— 

To  balance  at  last  report 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $43  75 

hauling , 6  00 

hardware  1 

flowers 3  00 

salary 50  00 

By  balance,  cash  on  hand 

August— 

To  balance  at  last  report 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

For  labor $44  19 

brick 6  40 

hauling 63  60 

painting 21  53 

salary 50  00 

By  balance 

Septemrer— 

To  balance  at  last  report 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

Forlabor $4113 

mowing 10  00 

stone  step 12  oo 

salary  50  00 

By  balance,  cash  on  hand 

October— 

To  balance  at  last  report 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

Disbursements— 

Forlabor $19  25 

coal ■      54  13 

salary  of  the  Custodian 50  00 

To  balance 

\'(i\  ttMBEB— 

15 y  balance  last  report  _ 

To  receipts  from  visitors • 

Disbursements— 

For  Labor $27  13 

lumber 1"  M 

salary 50  00 

By  balance,  cash  on  hand 


$55  71 
119  50 

$104  ro 

To  71 

$175  24 

$175  24 

$70  74 
127  25 

$188  72 
9  27 

$197  99 

$197  99 

$9  27 
131  75 

$113  13 
27  89 

$141  02 

$141  H2 

$27  89 
94  25 

1  24 

$123  38 

$123  38 

$123  38 

$104  75 

$1  24 

B^  27 

it;  24 

$104  75 

i 

$104  75 

39 


Items. 

Dr. 

Cb. 

Decemrer— 

To  balance  last  report 

$16  24 
93  25 

10  00 

11  83 

To  receipts  from  visitors 

To  Are  wood.              

Disbursements— 

For  labor $23  19 

spent  lime 150 

brick 10  40 

paint 1  83 

frames  and  renovating  parchments  44  40 

salary  ot  the  Custodian 50  00 

Donation  by  the  Custodian  to  balance 

$131  32 

$131  32 

$131  32 

Totals  for  the  year  1883— 

Receipts $1,263  50 

Expenditures 1, 263  50 

During  the  year  four  relies  have  been  received  and  placed  in 
Memorial  Hall : 

1.  A  steel  engraving  of  Carpenter's  painting  of  President  Lin- 
coln reading  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  in  presence  of  his 
Cabinet.     Presented  by  Dr.  H.  Wolgemuth,  of  Springfield. 

2.  A  photograph  of  a  monument  over  the  grave  of  the  mother 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  Spencer  County,  Indiana.  The  follow- 
ing extract  from  a  letter  accompanying  the  picture  explains  all : 

"The  grave  is  near  the  old  Lincoln  homestead,  where  Thomas 
Lincoln  resided  from  1816  to  1830.  A  half  acre  of  land  on  which 
the  grave  is,  has  been  conveyed  to  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners in  trust  for  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  is  placed 
in  charge  of  a  committee  of  ten  citizens.  I  am  chairman  of  that 
committee. 

Eespectfully  yours, 

James  Yeatch." 
"Rockport,  Ind.,  July  '24,  1883." 

3.  A  fern,  grown  near  where  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born,  in 
Hardin — now  Larue — County,  Kentucky.  Presented  in  a  neat 
frame,  by  Miss  Katie  Wetterer,  of  Springfield. 

4.  A  photograph  of  a  mural  (wall)  tablet,  bearing  the  follow- 
ing inscription  : 

In  Memoky  of 

MR.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLNE, 

OF  THIS  PARISH. 

Who  died  July  13. 1798,  aged  79  years. 

And  Hannah  his  daughter,  who  died  Sept.  23d,  1769,  aged  six  years. 

From  Thee,  great  God,  we  spring,  to  Thee  we  tend. 
Path,  motive,  guide,  original  and  end. 


40 


The  picture  was  presented  by  Mr.  John  Leach,  of  Great  Yar- 
mouth, County  of  Norfolk,  England,  who  says  that  the  tablet  is 
in  the  wall  of  Saint  Andrew's  Church,  Norwich,  in  the  same 
county.  It  was  accompanied  by  some  interesting  historical  facts 
concerning  the  connection  between  the  English  and  American 
Lincolns. 


A  Table — Showing  the  amount  received  for  the  admittance  of 
visitors  to  Memorial  Hall,  and  all  parts  of  the  Monument  for 
each  and  every  month  of  the  nine  years  that  it  has   been  under 

the  charge  of  tJte  Custodian. 


Months.      1875.      1873. 


1877. 


1X78. 


1879. 


1NMI. 


1881. 


1882. 


H83. 


January  

$72  40 

$61  25 

$57  25 

$66  75 

February... 

41  65 

35  75 

71  75 

38  25 

March 

39  40 

14  75 

49  25 

51  75 

April 

67  20 

54  25 

71  25 

62  25 

May 

ln3  40 

111  30 

126  75 

138  25 

June 

126  80 

136  75 

120  75 

1"'.'   !". 

July  

92  25 

lot  7:. 

87  75 

66  25 

August 

87  25 

Ill  25 

127  75 

77  25 

September . 

^2  75 

M6  65 

97  25 

73  75 

October  ... 

1".",  75 

112  25 

84  75 

86  25 

November.. 

57  25 

til  75 

56  25 

153  25 

December. . 

46  25 

51  25 

49  75 
$1,005  50 

74  63 

Ann'l  totals. 

$922  35 

$961  95 

$998  08 

$68  65 
7  s  25 
75  50 
75  00 
L57  75 
113  25 
93  75 


103  75 

117  75 

269  75 

53  75 

43  90 

$1,251  05 

$61  75 

58  00 

59  75 
10S  75 
159  25 

96  50 

!H  75 

102  75 

190  2h 

135  7.". 

62  75 

74  50 


$77 

43 

111 

83 

113 

98 

lol 

113 

132 

112 

84 

75 


$74  25 

67  25 

84  7.", 

88  75 

liil  75 

124  75 

111  75 

136  25 

137  25 
HU  75 

83  75 
04  75 


$1,201  75  $1,129  00  $1,240  01) 

I      


$76  511 

63  75 

87  25 

86  25 

141  25 

127  75 

119  5o 

127  25 

131  75 

94  25 

1"4  75 

103  25 

$1,263  50 


The  above  shows  a  grand  total  of  nine  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  forty-one  dollars  and  eighty  cents,  which  has  been  expended 
in  taking  care  of  the  Monument  and  grounds,  and  adding  to  the 
furniture  and  relics  in  Memorial  Hall;  except  a  small  surplus  of 
.65,    which   has    been    accumulated    in   the   hands   of    the 

e  ('nmmittfip.. 

J.  C.  Power.  Custodian. 


executive  Committee. 


41 


SUNDAY  OPENING 


OF  THE 


LINCOLN    MONUMENT. 


A  clause  in  connection  with  the  original  rules  and  regulations 
provides  for  opening  the  Monument  on  all  days  except  Sundays. 
A  pressure  set  in  almost  simultaneous  with  my  assuming  the 
duties  as  Custodian,  to  have  it  opened  on  that  day  also.  On  stat- 
ing the  facts  to-  some  of  the  Executive  Committee,  it  was  sug- 
gested that  the  experiment  be  tried.  I  accordingly  adopted  the 
custom — without  giving  any  printed  notice— of  opening  it  at  '2 
o'clock  every  Sunday  afternoon,  expecting  to  stay  but  two  hours. 
I  soon  found  that  it  was  simply  another  half  day's  service,  for  I 
was  generally  restrained  from  closing  until  the  usual  time  for 
week  days.  It  became  apparent  to  me,  that,  as  a  general  rule, 
those  who  could  find  time  to  visit  it  on  that  day  only,  were 
of  the  same  class,  who,  if  dry  goods  and  grocery  stores  were  open 
on  Sunday,  would  soon  find  their  time  so  limited,  that  they  would 
easily  yield  to  the  transaction  of  general  business  an  that  day 
also.  I  accordingly  notified  the  chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, in  the  autumn  of  1878,  that  I  desired  to  be  relieved  from 
opening  it  any  more  on  that  day,  and  if  he  had  insisted  on  my 
doing  so,  I  should  have  preferred  tendering  my  resignation.  The 
receipts  for  the  two  succeeding  years  may  very  properly  be  re- 
garded as  a  vindication  of  the  course  taken.  The  Monument  has 
been  opened  on  Sunday  a  few  times  since,  but  in  each  case  for  a 
special  purpose  and  without  fee  or  reward. 

Could  he  whose  memory  this  monument  is  designed  to  cherish, 
be  consulted,  it  would  doubtless  be  found  extremely  repugnant  to 
his  feelings  to  have  it  opened  on  the  Sabbath,  and  attended  by  a 
person  under  pay  in  any  form  whatever.  A  distinguished  jurist 
and  author — Hon.  I.  N.  Arnold — who  enjoyed  a  life-long  acquaint- 
ance with  him  says :  "Lincoln  was  more  familiar  with  the  Bible 
than  any  other  book  in  the  language."  This  knowledge  enabled 
him  to  draw  practical  lessons  from  it  in  times  of  great  and  sore 


42 

trial,  and  although  not  a  member  of  any  Church,  his  recognition 
of  the  importance  of  its  teachings  would  put  to  shame  many  who 
are.  This  is  apparant  m  some  of  the  more  important  of  his  State 
papers,  winch  seem  surcharged  with  the  spirit  of  some  of  the  old 
prophets.  I  will  give  a  single  quotation  from  a  general  order  to 
the  army  and  navy,  issued  Nov.  16,  1862. 

"The  President,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy, 
desires  and  enjoins  the  orderly  observance  of  the  Sabbath  by  the 
officers  and  men  in  the  military  and  naval  service.  The  import- 
ance for  man  and  beast,  of  the  prescribed  weekly  rest,  the  sacred 
rights  of  Christian  soldiers  and  sailors,  a  becoming  deference  to 
the  best  sentiment  of  a  Christian  people,  and  a  due  regard  for  the 
Divine  will,  demand  that  Sunday  labor  in  the  Army  and  Navy  be 
reduced  to  the  measure  of  strict  necessity.  The  discipline  and 
character  of  the  National  forces  should  not  suffer,  nor  the  cause 
they  defend  be  imperiled,  by  the  profanation  of  the  day,  or  name 
of  the  Most  High." 

Whoever  may  discharge  the  duties  of  Custodian  here,  it  is  to 
him  simply  business,  and  to  make  business  of  it  on  Sunday,  lowers 
the  dignity  that  should  manifest  itself  by  quiet  restfulness  on 
■  that  day.  The  symbolism  of  which  the  Monument  is  composed, 
in  connection  with  the  illustrious  character  it  is  designed  to  com- 
memorate, teaches  a  very  high  order  of  patriotism.  It  would  be 
little  short  of  a  crime  to  mar  it  by  a  violation  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  the  proper  observance  of  which  is,  in  these  times  of 
Sabbath  desecration,  and  for  our  own  country,  patriotism  of  the 
most  exalted  character. 


SIGHT  SEEING. 

People  who  go  sight-seeing,  expect  to  spend  money,  whether 
there  is  a  price  fixed  on  the  particular  objects  they  seek  or  not, 
and  if  they  are  not  prepared  to  pay  the  expenses  they  do  not  go. 
The  American  who  visits  London,  will  find  hundreds  of  places  he 
or  she  may  desire  to  visit,  to  which  admittance  is  restricted, 
either  by  requiring  the  payment  of  a  fee,  or  written  permission 
from  some  person  in  authority.  The  universal  experience  of  trav- 
elers is,  that  those  places  denominated  free  are  the  most  ex- 
pensive and  least  satisfactory  to  visit,  for  the  reason  that  the  time 
involved    in  obtaining  the  necessary  written  permit  or  order  is 


43 

more  valuable  than  the  fee  demanded,  where  a  fee  is  required. 
The  following  are  some  of  the  places  usually  visited,  and  the  cost 
or  method  of  gaining  admittance  : 

The  Bank  of  England  covers  eight  acres  of  ground  and  em- 
ploys 1,000  clerks.  The  bullion  vaults  may  be  visited  free,  by 
special  order  from  the  Governor  or  deputy  Governor  of  the  Bank. 

The  Royal  Mint — free,  on  a  written  application  to  the  Master 
of  the  Mint,  in  which  the  applicant  must  specify  the  day  on  which 
the  proposed  visit  is  to  be  made,  his  name,  trade,  and  number  of 
his  party. 

Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  on  members'  order,  or  occasionally  by 
payment. 

British  Gallery  of  Art — one  shilling. 

British  Museum — written  order,  free. 

Buckingham  Palace — free,  on  a  written  order  from  the  Lord 
Chamberlain's  office,  when  the  Queen  is  out  of  the  city. 

Houses  of  Parliament — gratis,  on  Saturdays  only,  on  an  order 
from  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  office. 

Lambeth  Palace  Library — free,  on  a  written  application. 

Fire  Monument — fee,  three  pence.  It  is  202  feet  high,  because 
the  great  fire  of  1666,  which  burned  over  436  acres,  commenced 
202  feet  east  of  where  the  Monument  stands. 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral — fee,  three  shillings  and  sixpense,  divided 
into  four  distinct  charges  for  the  different  parts.  It  cost  one 
million,  five  hundred  and  eleven  thousand,  two  hundred  and  two 
pounds,  or  seven  and  a  half  million  dollars. 

Westminster  Abbey — fee,  sixpense. 

Tower  of  London — Mondays  and  Saturdays,  free,  all  other 
week  days,  one  shilling.  It  comprises  twelve  acres,  and  is  a  clus- 
ter of  houses,  towers,  barracks,  armories,  warehouses  and  prison- 
like edifices.  It  contains  many  of  the  crowns  of  the  former  Kings 
and  Queens  of  England. 

Crystal  Palace — one  shilling,  except  Saturdays,  when  it  is  two 
shillings  and  sixpense. 

Kew  Gardens — free. 


II 

General  Post  Office.  Permission  to  view  its  workings  rarely 
granted.  Savings  Bank  department  may  be  viewed  from  2  to  4 
p.  m.,  daily,  on  written  application,  stating  which  day  the  visitor 
desires  to  see  it. 

Windsor  Castle — free,  on  tickets  from  the  Lord  Chamberlain's 
office. 

Woolwich  Arsenal,  850  acres  in  extent — free,  for  British  sub- 
jects, on  written  application  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  for  War. 
Foreigners  must  apply  to  their  embassadors  for  tickets. 

Custom  House,  on  the  bank  of  the  Thames — free.  The  amount 
of  customs  or  tariff  duties  collected  annually,  is  nearly  sixty 
millions  of  dollars,  notwithstanding  England  wants  to  have  free 
trade  in  our  country. 

There  are  hundreds  of  other  places  of  interest,  in  London,  that 
may  be  visited  under  similar  restrictions. 


THE  BROCK  MONUMENT,  AT  QUEENSTON,  CANADA. 

Sir  Isaac  Brock  was  the  General  officer  who  commanded  the 
English  army  at  the  capture  of  the  American  army  under  General 
Hull,  at  Detroit,  Michigan,  August  12th,  1812.  He  also  com- 
manded the  British  army  at  the  battle  of  Queenston,  Canada, 
seven  miles  below  Niagara  Falls,  October  13th„1812.  In  that 
battle  General  Brock  was  slain.  He  was  acknowledged  by  his 
enemies  to  have  been  a  noble  officer,  and  during  his  funeral,  the 
American  guns  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  were  tired  as  a 
token  of  respect.  The  spot  in  the  valley  where  he  fell  is  marked 
by  a  small  monument.  A  larger  one  was  built  on  Queenston 
Heights  in  18*20.  It  was  blown  up  in  1840  by  a  man  named  Lett, 
who  bad  been  connected  with  the  Canadian  rebellion  of  1837-8. 

Money  was  raised  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  and  in  1858 
another  monument  was  erected  on  the  same  spot.  A  committee 
of  twelve  distinguished  gentlemen  conducted  the  work.  The 
monument  stands  on  an  elevation  of  550  feet,  and  is  216  feet  high, 
including  a  statue  of  the  hero  in  whose  honor  it  is  erected.  The 
base  is  forty  feet  square.  The  monument  is  ascended  by  230 
steps  to  a  platform  in  the  tower,  '2<»0  feet  from  the  ground,  making 


45 

750  feet  above  Niagara  river  and  Lake  Ontario.  From  this  eleva- 
tion may  be  seen  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  Wellard  canal,  Lake 
Ontario,  the  city  of  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  towns  and  villages  of 
Lundy's  Lane,  St.  Catharine's,  Queenston,  Lewiston,  Youngston, 
and  Forts  Niagara  and  Massasauga.  It  stands  in  an  inclosureof 
forty  acres,  a  gift  from  the  Canadian  government,  and  is  ap- 
proached through  a  lodge,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Monument. 
From  Captain  Robert  B.  C.  Playter,  a  York  Pioneer,  who  was 
"care  taker"  in  1876,  I  learned  that  a  fee  of  one  shilling,  which 
they  call  the  Canadian  twenty-five  cent  piece,  equal  in  value  to 
our  silver  coin  of  that  denomination,  is  required  of  each  visitor 
for  access  to  the  monument  and  grounds.  It  is  open  in  summer 
and  closed  in  winter.  The  whole  income  is  only  about  two  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year.  The  Dominian  government  supplements 
that  by  sufficient  appropriations  to  keep  the  monument  in  repair. 


Some  places  of  Public  and  Patriotic  Interest  in  our  own  Coun- 
try— HOW   TO  GAIN  ADMITTANCE  TO  THEM  AND  HOW   THEY  ARE 

CARED   FOR. 

THE  WASHINGTON  MONUMENT,  AT  BALTIMORE. 

The  Legislature  of  Maryland,  in  the  year  1S09,  created  a  board 
of  commissioners  from  her  prominent  citizens,  and  invested 
them  with  power  to  erect  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  a  monument  to 
the  memory  of  George  Washington,  the  first  President  of  the 
United  States.  The  site  was  qhosen,  but  before  any  work  was 
done,  war  which  had  been  threatening  between  the  United  States 
and  England,  culminated  in  open  hostilities.  That  is  known  as 
the  war  of  1812.  In  September,  1814,  when  the  British  vessels  of 
war  bombarded  Fort  McHenry,  and  attempted  to  land  their  forces 
at  North  Point,  they  we're  repulsed  by  the  Americans,  which  in- 
spired our  National  poem  "The  Star  Spangled  Banner."  The 
soldiers  who  fell  at  North  Point,  afforded  a  new  cause  for  the 
erection  of  a  monument.  As  soon  as  peace  returned,  the  com- 
missioners were  directed,  instead  of  a  monument  to  the  memory 
of  Washington,  to  build  one  on  the  site  selected,  to  the  memory 
of  the  soldiers  who  had  fallen  in  defense  of  the  city.  That  is 
known  as  the  Battle  monument. 


46 

Another  site,  a  short  distance  from  the  Battle  monument,  was 
selected  and  the  corner  stone  of  the  Washington  monument  was 
Laid  July  Fourth,  1815.  It  is  constructed  of  white  marble,  and 
was  nearly  fifteen  years  in.  building,  the  statue  of  Washington 
having  been  raised  to  its  position  on  the  top,  October  19th,  1829. 
The  building  of  two  monuments  where  but  one  was  originally  in- 
tended, led  to  the  designation  so  long  applied  to  Baltimore  as 
"The  Monumental  City."  The  Washington  Monument  proper,  is 
101  feet  high,  and  the  statue  16  feet,  making  a  total  height  of  180 
feet.  The  ascent  is  made  by  a  spiral  stairway  of  228  steps,  to  a 
balcony,  from  which  may  be  seen  the  whole  city,  with  its  harbor, 
forts  and  adjoining  country.  The  monument  cost  ^250,000,  and 
the  statue  of  Washington  $9,000,  all  paid  for  by  the  State  of 
Maryland. 

It  would  naturally  be  presumed  that  the  State,  having  built  it 
entire,  or  the  city,  with  its  population  of  332,000  would,  one  or 
both,  have  made  provisions  for  taking  care  of  it,  and  made  it  free 
to  all  visitors,  but  such  has  not  been  the  case,  although  it  has 
been  completed  more  than  half  a  century.  In  1875  I  correspon- 
ded with  Mr.  Fenton,  the  keeper,  and  learned  from  him  that  the 
monument  was  under  the  care  of  the  city  of  Baltimore ;  that  the 
Mayor  appointed  and  the  Council  conhrmed  a  Keeper,  annually. 
There  are  no  grounds  to  look  after.  The  duties  of  the  keeper  are 
to  open  the  monument  every  day,  except  Sunday,  keep  the  office 
supplied  with  fuel,  and  furnish  each  visitor  with  a  lighted  lamp. 
There  is  no  salary  attached  to  the  position  nor  any  report  to 
make.  The  Keeper  is  authorized  to  sell  views  of  the  Monument 
and  surrounding  scenery,  collect  a  fee  of  fifteen  cents  from  each 
visitor,  and  retain  all  the  income  for  his  services. 


MOUNT  VERNON  LADIES'  ASSOCIATION. 

Mount  Vernon,  the  home  of  Washington,  situated  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  river  Potomac,  sixteen  miles  below  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington, D.  ('.,  was  inherited  by  a  nephew  bearing  the  family  name. 
Haifa  century  after  the  death  of  the  Father  of  his  country,  but 
little  attention  was  given  to  it  from  the  outside  world.  Mean- 
while almost  everything  with  which  his  daily  life  was  associated, 


47 

was  suffered  to  fall  into  dilapidation  and  almost  hopeless  decay. 
An  occasional  citizen  of  the  great  Republic,  moved  by  patriotic 
impulses,  desiring  to  visit  the  tomb,  found  it  almost  inaccessible 
for  want  of  roads  in  that  part  of  Virginia.  The  only  way  it  could 
be  approached  with  any  degree  of  comfort  was  by  water,  and 
there  were  no  regular  boats.  In  this  dilemma  the  idea  occurred 
to  a  lady,  that  the  ladies  of  the  south  should  raise  the  money, 
purchase  the  estate  and  place  it  in  the  keeping  of  the  State  of 
Virginia.  Alter  nearly  two  years  effort,  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  was  collected  by  subscriptions,  when  a  charter  was  ap- 
plied for  and  granted  by  the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  March  17, 
1856,  under  the  style  of  the  Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  of 
the  Union.  In  the  preamble  it  was  declared  that  the  Association 
should  have  power  to  raise  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  pur- 
chase and  improve  two  hundred  acres  of  the  estate  of  Mount 
Vernon,  including  the  Mansion, Wharf  on  the  Potomac,  and  tomb 
of  General  George  Washington,  and  that  it  should  be  "forever 
held  sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Father  of  his  country." 

The  Governor  of  Virginia  was  authorized  to  obtain  a  written 
contract  from  John  A.  Washington,  for  the  purchase  of  the  estate. 
Authority  was  given  the  Association  to  collect  a  fee  of  twenty-five 
cents  for  each  and  every  person  over  ten  years  of  age  who  may 
land  at  and  visit  Mount  Vernon  and  the  tomb  of  Washington. 

The  move  was  for  the  Ladies  of  the  South  to  raise  the  money, 
but  Northern  editors  endorsed  the  work  and  claimed  a  part  in  it 
for  the  people  of  the  North,  since  Washington  belonged  to  the 
whole  country.  When  it  became  understood  that  the  money  was 
all  to  be  passed  over  to  Virginia,  for  her  to  purchase  and  hold  the 
property,  objections  arose  and  a  new  charter  v/as  applied  for  and 
obtained  under  date  of  March  19,  1858.  The  principal  difference 
between  that  and  the  first  charter  was,  that  the  capital  stock 
should  not  exceed  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  including  the 
two  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  that  the  Mount  Vernon  Ladies' 
Association  of  the  Union  was  authorized  to  hold  the  property  in 
its  own  name,  with  the  proviso  that  if  it  ceased  to  exist,  the  prop- 
erty should  revert  to  the  State  of  Virginia,  to  be  held  sacred  to 
the  memory  of  Washington.  The  clause  authorizing  the  collec- 
tion of  twenty-five  cents  from  each  visitor,  was  retained.  Section 
8,  of  the  original  charter  reads  : — 


IS 

'•The  Governor  of  Virginia  shall  annually  appoint  and  commis- 
sion live  fit  and  proper  men,  who  shall  constitute  a  board  of 
visitors,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  visit  that  place  and  examine  and 
faithfully  report  to  the  Governor  all  the  proceedings  of  said  A- 
ciation,  touching  Mount  Vernon,  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  comply  or  fail  to  comply  with  this  act,  and  other  laws  of  the 
land.  The  expenses  of  said  board  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  treas- 
ury of  this  commonwealth,  in  the  same  manner  that  the  expenses 
of  other  boards  of  visitors  are  paid." 

A  constitution,  with  by-laws,  was  brought  into  existence,  but 
when,  is  not  stated.  Finding  that  an  amendment  to  the  by-laws 
was  made  at  a  meeting  of  the  Association,  held  in  the  city  of 
Richmond,  Virginia.  April  26,  1858,  I  conclude  that  the  consti- 
tution, with  by-laws,  was  framed  and  adopted  between  the  dates 
of  March  19th  and  April  26,  1858. 

The  constitution  declares  the  officers  of  the  Association  to  be  a 
"Regent,  Vice-Regents,  as  far  as  practicable  from  each  State  in 
the  Union,  and  a  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  The  Regent  shall  be 
the  President  of  the  Association  and  of  the  Grand  Council,  and 
the  'Southern  Matron."  shall  be  the  first  Regent."  What  is 
meant  by  the  'Southern  Matron'  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn. 

The  following  defines  who  are  members  of  the  Association  : 
"Any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  from  whom  the  Regent,  any 
of  the  Vice-Regents,  the  Secretary,  the  Treasurer,  or  any  local 
board,  or  authorized  agent  may.  for  thai  purpose,  receive  or 
recognize  the  receipt  of  the  sum  of  one  dollar,  shall  be  a  member 
of  the  Association  :  and  the  payment  of  a  further  sum  of  one 
dollar,  on  or  before  the  "2 2  1  of  February,  in  any  year,  shall  entitle 
a  member  to  attend  and  vote  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  As- 
sociation of  that  year." 

Miss  Ann  Pamela  Cunningham,  Regent  :  Anna  Cora  Ritchie, 
Vice-Regent  for  Virginia  ;  Louisa  [ngersoll  Greenough,  Vice-Regent 
for  Mass.;  Susan  L.  Pellett,  Secretary,  composed  the  meeting 
of  April  26,  1858. 

It  has  been  my  ardent  desire  since  I  took  charge  of  the  National 
Lincoln  Monument,  to  obtain  reports  and  histories  of  all  other 
places  possessing  similar  attractions  to  the  public.  I  wished  to 
have  them  for  the  double  purpose  of  keeping  them  here  on  iile, 
that  I  might  write  intelligibly  concerning  them,  and  avail  myself 
of  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  a  knowledge  of  their  methods 
and  to  make  it  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  National  Lincoln  Monu- 
ment Association.  With  all  ray  efforts  I  have  been  unable  to 
ascertain  when  the  Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  was  organ- 


»  49 

ized,  when  it  secured  possession  of  the  Mount  Vernon  estate,  or 
when  they  began  to  run  a  boat  regularly  from  Washington  to 
Mount  Vernon.  Failing  to  obtain  the  desired  information  through 
the  officers  of  the  Association,  I  inquired  of  a  citizen  of  Washing- 
ton, informing  him' of  the  difficulties  under  which  I  labored,  and 
asking  his  assistance.  He  readily  gave  me  all  the  information 
he  could,  and  then  facetiously  remarked  that  one  reason  why  the 
Ladies  did  not  respond  more  readily  was,  that  perhaps  they  re- 
garded Washington  not  so  much  "the  great  American  as  the 
great  Southerner."  That  reminded  me  of  a  tilt  beWeeir  two 
partisans  before  the  rebellion,  in  which  one  cited  Washington 
as  an  illustrious  example  as  a  slaveholder.  The  other  retorted  ; 
"Ah  !  you  forget  to  add  that  he  set  an  equally  illustrious  example 
as  an  emancipator."  This  led  me  to  moralize  on  the  mistake  of 
Washington,  that  he  did  not  put  his  emancipation  convictions 
into  practice  during  his  life,  Avhen  he  could  have  given  his  freed 
slaves  much  valuable  counsel  in  the  use  of  their  liberty. 

This  shrinking  on  the  part  of  the  Ladies,  from  confiding  in  the 
people,  who  have  so  generously  furnished  the  means  of  accom- 
plishing their  laudable  purpose,  is  the  more  inexplicable,  in  view 
of  the  example  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association  in  freely 
publishing  its  proceedings  annually,  especially  when  we  remem- 
ber that  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  after  years  of  the  most  efficient 
labor  in  building  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  contributed  by  his  writ- 
ings and  public  lectures,  more  than  one-third  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  Mount  Vernon. 

By  perseverence,  I  have,  in  addition  to  a  copy  each  of  the  two 
charters,  obtained  a  copy  each  of  the  constitution  and  by-laws ; 
"Opinion  of  Counsel;"  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Association  and 
Grand  Council  at  the  annual  meetings  for  1866,  1872,  1873 ;  Re- 
port of  the  Board  of  visitors  on  the  part  of  Virginia  for  1874  ;  re- 
port and  minutes  of  Council  of  the  Association  for  1875 ;  frag- 
ment of  report  for  1876  ;  report  for  1877, 1878, 1879,  1880,  1881  and. 
188'2.  From  what  there  is  in  my  possession  I  have  reason  to 
think  that  there  were  annual  meetings  and  reports,  as  early  if 
not  earlier  than  1864, 1865,  1867, 1868, 1869,  1870,  1871,  1874,  1876, 
1883  and  1884.  None  of  the  last  named  have  come  into  my 
possession. 

The  Ladies  have  one  peculiarity  in  their  manner  of  transact- 
ing business,  the  like  of  which  is  seldom  or  never  done  by. any 

other  deliberative  body ;   and  I  confess  myself  deficient  in  the 
—6 


50 

sagacity  to  see  a  good  reason  for  it.  I  allude  to  the  practice  of 
printing  two  pamphlets  for  each  year,  containing  nearly  the  same 
matter,  the  one  under  the  title  of  "Report  of  the  Mount  Vernon 
Ladies'  Association  of  the  Union  ;"  the  other,  "Minutes  of  Council 
of  the  Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  of  the  Union."  In  their 
proceedings  the  "Grand"  frequently  occurs  before  "Council.''  It 
impresses  the  writer  that  if  all  the  business  for  each  year  was  ar- 
ranged consecutively  and  printed  in  one  pamphlet  it  would  lie 
more  intelligible  and  less  expensive.  With  these  dual  reports, 
and  such  other  materials  as  I  have,  I  will  endeavor  to  give  the 
reader  some  idea,  however  imperfect,  of  the  workings  of  the  Mount 
Vernon  Ladies'  Association  of  the  Union. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Association  held  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
Nov.  19,  1866,  "the  Kegent  read  her  report,  in  which  she  stated  that 
the  receipts  of  the  Association,  since  its  organization,  amounted 
to  $246,211.28 ;  and  of  this  sum  $68,294.59,  were  received  from 
the  late  Hon.  Edward  Everett — proceeds  of  his  lectures  and  con- 
tributions to  the  New  York  Ledger.  The  entire  purchase  money, 
($200,000)  has  been  paid,  together  with  the  iuterest  that  had 
accumulated  on  the  deferred  payments,  and  about  $23,000  have 
been  expended  for  necessary  repairs  to  the  mansion  and  out-build- 
ings." 

June  11,  1872,  the  Grand  Council  of  the  Mount  Vernon  Ladies' 
Association  assembled  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  remained  in  session 
five  days.  Twenty-one  States  were  represented.  A  few  quota- 
tions from  their  proceedings  will  give  some  idea  of  the  business. 
The  duties  of  the  resident  Secretary  and  Superintendent  were 
performed  by  the  same  person,  on  a  salary  of  $1,500.00. 

"The  Association  derives  its  chief  income  from  the  profits  of  a 
daily  boat,  owned  and  run  to  Mount  Vernon  by  Sykes  & .  Hollings- 
head,  and  from  sales  on  the  place.  An  entrance  fee  of  twenty- 
five  cents  is  charged  each  person  visiting  Mount  Vernon.  To 
those  coming  on  the  boat,  the  fee  is  embraced  in  the  fare  charged  ; 
in  addition  to  which,  the  boat  pays  to  the  Association,  as  wharf- 
age, twenty-live  per  cent,  of  the  actual  passage  money.'' 

'"Amount  received  from  boat  from  June.  1870,  to  June.  1872, 
$8,066.45.  From  sales,  donations  and  collections  from  June. 
INTO  to  June.  1872,  $3,036.06." 

Council  of  the  Ladies  Mount  Vernon  Association  was  held  in 
Washington,  1).  C.  May  13th,  1873,  and  continued  until  the  -20th 
of  the  month.     The  Kegent  reported  that  she  had,  in  accordance 


51 

with  direction  of  Council  of  1872,  made  arrangements  with  David 
Paul  Brown  to  write  a  history  of  the  Association,  but  that  his 
sudden  death  had  terminated  it.  For  the  fractional  year,  from 
July  1,  1872  to  May  1,  1873,  the  receipts  from  all  sources  were 
$3,894.61;  expenditures  $3,823.99.  The  Eegent  then  read  her 
farewell  address  in  which  she  offered  her  resignation  on  account 
of  declining  health.  She  also  recommended  that  Mrs.  Lilly  F. 
McAllister  Berghmans  be  recognized  as  the  Eegent  pro  tern. 
Resignation  accepted.  Adjourned  May  20th,  to  meet  again  at 
Mount  Vernon,  the  first  Tuesday  in  June,  1874. 

Failing  to  obtain  a  copy  of  the  report  of  proceedings  of  the 
Association  for  1874,  I  have  only  the  report  of  the  Board  of 
Visitors  on  the  part  of  Virginia  to  the  Governor  of  that  State. 
The  chairman  of  the  Board,  Lieut.  Governor  H.  W.  Thomas, 
says  they  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Association  June  2d,  and 
found  it  in  session.  He  recounts  some  of  the  circumstances  of 
the  ladies  having  raised  $200,000,  paid  for  the  estate,  and  of  their 
having  repaired  and  restored  many  of  the  old  buildings.  He 
sustains  the  ladies  in  their  contract  with  the  owner  of  a  steamboat 
to  land  passengers  at  the  Mount  Vernon  wharf,  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  others,  as  the  only  means  of  obtaining  an  adequate  and 
certain  income. 

The  Association  met  at  Mount  Vernon  June  2,  1875.  Minutes 
of  1874  were  read,  and  the  Eegent,  Mrs.  Berghmans  read  her  re- 
port, m  which  she  announces  the  death  of  the  former  Eegent, 
Miss  Cunningham.  She  says:  "Many  of  you  are  probably 
aware  of  the  annoyances  to  which  we  were  subjected  last  summer 
from  an  opposition  boat,  the  "Mary  Washington,"  which  by  run- 
ning at  reduced  rates,  took  from  our  boat  a  great  portion  of  the 
travel.  Capt.  Hollingshead  and  Col.  Hollinsworth  both  represen- 
ted to  me  the  impossibility  of  continuing  to  run  the  "Arrow"  at 
the  prices  originally  agreed  upon,  namely  $1.50  the  round  trip, 
and  begged  that  I  would  authorize  a  reduction.  In  the  interim 
of  Council  I  was  compelled  to  decide  the  matter,  which  I  did, 
after  taking  reliable  legal  advice,  and  authorized  the  reduction  of 
the  fare  to  $1.00,  which  had  the  desired  effect  of  soon  compelling 
the  other  boat  to  withdraw  from  the  contest.  The  same  parties, 
however,  with  other  sympathizers,  then  attacked  us  before  the 
Virginia  Legislature  during  its  session,  endeavoring  to  obtain  an 
order  for  all  boats  on  the  Potomac  to  have  the  privilege  of  stop- 


Ult/VERs/ry  of 

"-(-"WIS  LIBRARy 


52 

ping  ;it  the  Mount  Vernon  wharf,  which  being  our  own  property' 
we  claim  the  right  to  control — a  right  which  is  of  v'tal  moment  to 
the  support  of  Mount  Vernon.  The  bill,  which  was  designed  to 
injure  us  so  deeply,  passed  the  House  of  Delegates,  but  owing  to 
the  energetic  opposition  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  to  Mount  Vernon, 
aided  by  Judge  Ball,  and  the  Vice  Regent  of  West  Virginia,  who 
happily  chanced  to  be  in  Richmond  at  that  time,  and  made  a  con- 
vincing statement  of  the  rights  of  the  case  before  the  committee 
to  whom  the  bill  had  been  referred,  it  was  defeated  by  a  large 
majority. 

"  Voted,  that  each  of  the  Old  Thirteen  States  which  furnished  a 
room  in  the  mansion,  be  permitted  to  place  its  coat-of-arms  over 
the  door  of  such ;  and  that  the  other  States  may  have  their  coat- 
of-arms  hung  in  the  Martha  Washington  sitting  room." 

Adjourned  to  meet  May  16th,  1876,  at  six  o'clock  p.  m.  on  board 

the  steamer  "Arrow,"  at  the  seventh  street  wharf,  at  Washington, 
D.  C,  thence  to  Mount  Vernon. 

Association  assembled  at  Mount  Vernon,  May  16th,  1876,  and 
after  a  three  days  session  adjourned  May  19th.  The  transactions 
for  this,  the  Centennial  year,  appears  in  the  reports  for  next  year. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  officers  of  the  Association  for  1877, 
many  of  them  holding  over  from  1876. 

KEGENT. 

Mrs.  J.  S.  Laughton,  Washington,  D.  C. 

VICE-REGENTS. 

Mrs.  M.  J.  M.  Sweat,  Portland,  Maine, 

Mrs.  M.  P.  J.,Cutts,  Brattleboro,  Vermont, 

Mrs.  A.  W.  Chase,  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 

Mrs.  S.  E.  J.  Hudson,  Stratfort,  Connecticut, 

Mrs.  J.  V.  R.  Townsenu,  Albany,  New  York, 

Mrs.  N.  W.  Halsted,  Newark,  New  Jersey, 

Miss  Emily  Harper,  Baltimore,  Maryland, 

Mrs.  Emma  R.  Ball,  Leesburg,  Virginia. 

Mrs.  Ella  B.  Washington,  Charlestown,  West  Virginia, 

Mrs,  L.  H.  Walker,  Leaksville,  North  Carolina, 

Mrs.  L.  H.  Pickens,  Edgefield,  South  Carolina, 

Mrs.  P.  Ed(;eworth  Eve,  Augusta,  Georgia, 

Mrs.  M.  C.  Yulee,  Fernandina,  Florida, 


53 

Mrs.  C.  H.  P.  Brown,  Nashville,  Tennessee, 

Mrs. Balfour,  Vicksburg,  Mississippi, 

Mrs.  Mary  T.  Barnes,  Washington,  District  Columbia, 

Mrs.  M.  H.  Ward,  Manhattan,  Kansas, 

Mrs.  C.  L.  Scott,  Little  Rock,  Arkansas, 

Mrs.  Martha  Mitchell,  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 

Mrs.  Rosa  B.  Jeffrey,  Lexington,  Kentucky, 

Mrs.  Harriet  V.  Fitch,  Logansport,  Indiana, 

Mrs.  E.  L.  Broadwell,  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 

Mrs.  M.  A.  Comegys,  Dover,  Delaware, 

Mrs.  E.  W.  Barry,  Chicago,  Illinois, 

Mrs.  M.  G.  Blanding,  San  Francisco,  California, 

Mrs.  A.  P.  Dillon,  Davenport,  Iowa. 

SECRETARY  OF  COUNCILS. 

Mrs.  M.  J.  M.  Sweat. 

RESIDENT  SECRETARY   AND    SUPERINTENDENT. 

Col.  J.  McH.  Hollingsworth. 

TREASURER. 

George  W.  Biggs,  Washington,  D.  C. 

ADVISORY   COMMITTEE. 

W.  W.  Corcoran,  Washington,  District  Columbia, 
Gen.  N.  N.  Halsted,  Newark,  New  Jersey, 
Judge  Charles  B.  Ball,  Leeshurg,  Virginia, 
Clarkson  N.  Potter,  New  York,  N.  Y, 
Judge  J.  P.  Comegys,  Dover,  Delaware. 

BOARD  OF  VISITORS  OF  VIRGINIA  FOR  1877. 

Judge  H.  W.  Thomas,  J.  M.  Forres, 

Fitz  Hugh  Lee.  B.  P.  Noland. 

A  Council  of  the  Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  of  the 
Union,  was  held  at  Mount  Vernon,  May  22d,  187 i'. 

Mrs.  Laughton,  Regent,  read  her  report,  in  which  she  called 
special  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  five  years'  steamboat  contract 
would  expire  before  their  next  meeting.  Five  different  parties 
made  proposals  for  carrying  passengers  daily  to  and  from  Mount 


.-.1 

Vernon.  The  subject  was  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee. 
From  the  report  of  the  Superintendent  it  may  he  seen  that 
during  the  month  of  October,  1876,  the  number  of  visitors  by  boat 
was  L3,040,  and  as  a  result  of  the  Centennial  travel,  the  income 
for  that  year  was  such  that  after  paying  all  expenses,  he  was  en- 
abled to  place  about  nine  thousand  dollars  to  the  credit  of  the 
endowment  fund. 

Although  the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  by  special  act,  after  the 
Mount  Vernon  estate  became  the  property  of  the  Ladies'  Associa- 
tion, made  it  exempt  from  taxation,  it  enacted  a  law,  April  4th, 
1S77,  requiring  the  Association  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Board 
of  Visitors.  At  the  request  of  the  Association,  that  law  was  re- 
pealed in  1878.  The  river  Potomac  froze  over  and  stopped  the 
steamer,  from  December  10,  1876,  until  February  8th,  1*77,  thus 
cutting  off  all  income.  Notwithstanding  the  loss  of  those  two 
months,  the  total  revenue  received  from  May  1st,  1876  to  May  1st, 
1877,  was  8-24, 024. 05,  and  the  expenditures  s;4.7'.)".15,  leaving  a 
balance  of  $9,228.90,  which  was  added  as  previously  stated,  to  the 
Endowment  fund  of  $100,000,  which  the  Ladies  are  aiming  to 
raise,  and  had  then  brought  up  to  about  $28,000. 

The  sale  of  photographic  pictures  of  some  of  the  choice  views 
on  and  about  Mount  Vernon,  has  from  the  time  the  ladies  began 
to  restore  it,  furnished  a  considerable  item  of  revenue.  Having 
a  clear  title  to  the  property,  and  being  responsible  to  the  public 
for  the  proper  care  of  it,  the  audacity  of  an  outside  party  claim- 
ing the  right  to  enter  the  grounds  and  take  views  at  will,  is  little 
if  any  short  of  what  it  would  be  to  claim  the  right  to  take  the 
crops  growing  on  the  grounds.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  outside 
parties  did  from  the  first,  force  their  way  in  against  the  protests 
of  those  in  authority  and  take  views  for  the  purpose  of  profiting 
by  the  sale  of  them.  A  letter  from  a  friend,  speaking  of  the  un- 
bearable annoyance,  says,  that  it  was  never  attempted  twice  by 
the  same  party,  and  that  a  Superintendent,  before  Col.  Hollings- 
worth's  time,  when  his  patience  was  exhausted,  broke  the  instru- 
ments to  splinters,  belonging  to  a  party  who  had  come  unbidden. 
The  party  to  whom  they  belonged  sued  the  Superintendent  for 
damages  and  gained  nothing  but,  the  privilege  of  paying  the  cosljs 
of  his  suit. 

The  Superintendent,  in  his  report  for  1877.  says  that  during 
August,  1870.  "when  no  one  but  the  servants  were  about  the  place, 
a  party  of  men  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  P.  S.  Howland,  came 


55 

to  Mount  Vernon,  with  the  determination  to  obtain  negative 
photographs  of  the  Mansion,  Tomb"  and  grounds.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  remonstrances  of  servants,  they  persisted  in  their  unlaw- 
ful intentions,  making  threats  of  personal  injury,  to  which  the 
servants  can  witness.  I  concluded  that  it  was  best  to  institute 
suit  against  the  parties,  which  I  did.  Dr.  Howland  and  others 
have  been  summoned  to  appear  in  court.  This  suit  is  still  pend- 
ing, and  comes  before  the  next  court  in  Juue,  1877,  when  I  hope 
it  will  be  speedily  settled.  I  have  employed  able  counsel  for  the 
Association,  and  have  paid  all  preliminary  fees.  The  question  is 
an  important  one  to  us.  The  revenue  from  the  sale  of  photographs 
has  suffered  very  considerably  in  consequence  of  this  trespass,  a 
marked  decrease  being  noticable.  Photographs  of  Mount  Vernon 
are  now  sold  in  different  parts  of  Washington  city,  obtained  un- 
lawfully from  these  negatives."  Near  the  close  of  the  meeting 
the  Association  passed  the  following : 

"Resolved,  That  the  ladies  of  this  Council  desire  to  express 
their  entire  satisfaction  at  the  manner  in  which  Col.  Hollings- 
worth  has  performed  his  duties  as  Superintendent,  and  to  convey 
to  him  their  especial  thanks  for  the  fidelity  and  success  with 
which  he  has  discharged  the  same  during  the  Centennial  year." 

After  a  session  of  seven  days  the  Association  adjourned  May 
29  th,  1877. 

Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  assembled  at  Mount  Vernon 
June  11,  1878. 

Reports  of  the  Regent  and  Superintendent  shows  that  .in  the 
matter  of  a  new  steam  boat  contract,  Mount  Vernon  had  enemies 
who  prevented  the  purchase  of  a  boat  in  every  way  suitable,  and 
that  it  became  necessary  for  Capt.  L.  L.  Blake,  to  whom  the  con- 
tract had  been  awarded  for  five  years,  from  June  1,  1878,  to  June 
1,  1883,  for  the  exclusive  right  to  land  passengers  at  Mount 
Vernon  wharf,  to  build  a  boat  for  that  purpose.  Consequently 
the  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the  Washington  papers  : 

"NOTICE    TO    MOUNT    VERNON    PASSENGERS. 

The  steamer  W.  W.  Corcoran,  which  has  been  recently  built  and 
furnished,  L.  L.  Blake,  captain,  is  the  only  boat  allowed  to  land 
passengers  at  Mount  Vernon  wharf.  Round  trip  $1  including 
admission  to  Mansion  and  grounds.  Steamer  leaves  Seventh 
street  Daily — Sundays  excepted — at  10  a.  m.,  and  return  about  3 
p.  m.  J.  McH.  Hollings WORTH, 

Supt.  Ladies'  Mount  Vernon  Association. 

L.  L.  Blake,  Steamer  W.  W.  Corcoran." 


56 

The  Superintendent  recommended  that  a  suitable  uniform  be 
adopted  for  the  employes  at  Mount  Vernon.  He  also  reported 
that  for  the  thirteen  months,  from  May  1,  1877,  to  June  1,  1878, 
there  had  been  14,082  visitors,  by  boat,  1,262  by  road  gate;  that 
the  total  revenue  for  farm  and  garden  products,  lunch  tables,  sale 
of  photographs,  and  for  admission  of  visitors,  was  $10,692.89; 
and  expenditures,  §10,(150.01.  Of  that  amount,  according  to  the 
ratio  given  in  other  places,  the  receipts  for  the  admittance  of 
visitors  and  wharfage,  was  §5,103.38. 

"The  acting  Regent  was  requested  to  purchase  a  suitable  book 
to  be  placed  in  the  hall  of  the  Mansion,  for  the  registration  of 
new  membership.  Said  book  to  have  on  the  title  page  the  fol- 
lowing: 'Persons  may  become  members  of  this  Associotion  by 
payment  of  one  dollar  and  the  insertion  of  their  names  in  this 
book.'  The  proceeds  of  membership  are  appropriated  to  the  En- 
dowment Fund." 

"A. contract  with  Miss  Johnson,  for  the  sale  of  her  guide  book 
on  the  steam  boat  and  at  Mount  Vornon,  was  read,  accepted  and 
signed  by  the  acting  Regent.-" 

Not  rinding  any  report  of  the  trial  of  the  parties  who  trespassed 
on  Mount  Yernon,  by  taking  photographic  negatives,  I  infer  that 
it  was  satisfactory  to  the  Association,  and  that  its  right  to  con- 
trol the  taking  of  pictures  was  maintained,  f torn. the  following: 

"Mr.  Johnson,  photographer,  presented  proposals  for  taking 
new  and  superior  views  of  Mount  Yernon,  to  be  placed  on  sale, 
and  a  per  centage  allowed  the  Association.  Referred  to  a  com- 
mittee." 

"Yoted  that  the  Superintendent  be  authorized  to  provide  a  uni- 
form for  the  hands  on  the  place;  said  uniform  to  consist  of  a 
navy  blue  flannel  blouse,  with  brass  buttons,  a  wide  leather  belt 
with  brass  buckle,  and  black  hat  with  blue  band,  marked 'Mount 
Yernon,'  in  gilt  letters." 

"The  State— New  York— has  presented  the  sum  of  s±25.(H)  for 
a  Burglar  Alarm  to  be  attached  to  the  tomb  of  Washington,  as 
an  additional  security  to  those  precious  remains." 

Adjourned,  Saturday  June  15th. 

Ladies'  Mount  Yernon  Association  of  the  Union,  assembled  at 
Mount  Vernon.  June  11,  1870.  The  Regent,  Mrs.  Lilly  L.  M. 
Laughton,  not  being  present,  Mrs.  E.  W.  Barry,  Yice-Regent  for 
Illinois,  was  called  on  to  preside.  She  opened  the  Council  by 
reading  of  scripture,  and  the  recital  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  by  the 
Ladies. 


57 
The  following  are  extracts  from  the  Superintendents'  report  : 


"Since  the  meeting  of  the  Council,  for  theyear  1878,  to  June  1, 
1879,  there  have  been  11,026  visitors  to  Mount  Vernon.  The 
revenue  during  that  time  has  been,  from  all  sources,  .$9,542.19, 
and  the  expenditures,  $8,874.64."  "During  the  winter 

we  were  obliged  to  curtail  our  expenses  by  a  reduction  of  seven 
on  our  pay  roll,  and  I  regret  to  say  that  the  public  took  advant- 
age of  the  opportunity  to  find  fault."  *  *  "I  have  planted 
eighteen  acres  in  corn,  eight  in  rye,  seven  in  oats,  ten  in  grass, 
and  we  have  about  one-half  acre  in  potatoes,  all  of  which  are 
very  promising.     The  fruit  crop  promises  to  be  very  abundant." 

The  committee  to  whom  the  subject  of  photography  was  re- 
ferred, at  the  last  annual  meeting,  made  the  following  report : 

"To  a  member  of  your  committee,  Mr.  Alex.  Gardner,  the  late 
photographer  of  Mount  Vernon,  offered  to  present  to  the  Associ- 
tion  the  negatives  of  Mount  Vernon  views  now  in  his  hands, 
when  the  Association  makes  their  settlement  with  him.  Several 
photographers  were  waited  on ;  three  sent  in  their  estimates  to 
the  committee : 

Dr.  Jos.  Jouy's  estimate  on  cabinet  size,  $1  50  per  dozen. 
Mr.  Jarvis'  "         "         "         "         1  25     " 

N.  G.  Johnson's       "         "         "         "         1  20     " 

Other  styles  being  in  the  same  ratio.  Mr.  Johnson's  being  the 
lowest  bid,  the  contract  was  awarded  to  him,  the  work  guaran- 
teed to  be  good  and  satisfactory.  The  Superintendent  attended 
to  drawing  up  the  contract,  which  was  signed  by  your  committee 
and  approved  by  the  Superintendent.  It  was  for  five  years 
from  Oct.  8,  1878." 

Committee  on  post  office,  reported  that  a  post  office  had  been 
established,  and  named  "Mount  Vernon-on-the-Potomac,  Fair- 
fax county,  Virginia,"  and  that  Col.  Hollingsworth  was  the  Post- 
master, and  that  Capt.  Blake  had  the  contract  for  carrying  a 
daily  mail  for  two  years  and  nine  months,  from  Oct.  1,   1878. 

Mrs.  E.  W.  Barry,  of  Chicago,  Vice-Begent  for  Illinois,  in  her 
efforts  to  furnish  the  room  assigned  to  Illinois,  in  the  Mansion  at 
Mount  Vernon,  reported  that,  "In  February,  1879  I  presented 
a  bill  to  our  State  Legislature,  asking  an  appropriation  of  $150 
for  our  Coat-of-Arms  to  be  placed  over  the  hall  door  of  the  Illi- 
nois room.     A  few  days  before  I  left  home  I  received  a  telegram 

announcing  its  passage  in  both  houses,  followed  by  a  letter  from 

—7 


58 

the  Hon.  E.  B.  Sherman,  saying  at  the  close,  '1  trust  this  small 
recognition,  by  the  General  Assembly,  of  your  Association,  will 
encourage  you  in  your  laudable  endeavor.'  Mrs.  Barry  had 
learned  that  there  was  a  chair  in  New  York  that  belonged  to 
that  room,  in  Washington's  time.  She  expressed  her  intention 
to  have  it  reproduced  in  a  full  set,  upholstered  ;is  it  is  with 
blue  satin  damask.  "In  furnishing  the  room,  it  is  our  intention 
to  adhere  scrupulously  to  the  original,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to 
ascertain  what  that  was." 

After  a  session  of  three  days,  Council  adjourned. 

Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  assembled  at  Mount  Vernon, 
May  26,  1880.  Mrs.  Lilly  L.  M.  Laughton,  Regent,  presiding. 
From  the  Superintendent's  report  we  learn  that  the  number  of 
visitors,  by  boat,  for  the  year  ending  May  1st,  was  13,420,  and  by 
road  480.  The  receipts  from  all  sources  was  $13,526.68,  and  ex- 
penditures $12,883.80.  There  are  fifteen  buildings  requiring  con- 
stant attention.  ''The  number  of  residents  on  the  estate,  in- 
cluding the  children  of  some  of  the  servants,  is  nineteen." 
Decoration  Day — May  29th — was  observed  at  the  tomb.  "The 
iron  gates  were  opened,  the  Ladies  entered  the  enclosure  and 
the  Sarcophagi  were  soon  covered  with  fresh  flowers.  Among 
them  were  some  of  the  huge  blossoms  of  the  Magnolia  tree 
planted  by  Washington,  which  seems  each  year  to  hurry  for- 
ward in  order  to  be    ready    to  thus    do  honor    to  its  master." 

Adjourned  June  1st,  after  a  session  of  six  days. 

Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  of  the  Union,  assembled  at 
Mt,  Vernon,  June  7,  1881. 

Superintendent  reported,  "the  number  of  visitors  for  the  year 
13,881  by  boat,  although  the  river  was  closed  for  seven  weeks, 
and  359  by  road.  The  revenue  from  all  sources  was  #10,831,50, 
the  expenses  SK»,232,(iS,  leaving  a  balance  in  hand  of  $610.82." 
The  following  classification  of  the  sources  of  revenue  taken  from 
the  Superintendent's  report,  will  be  found  interesting : 

From  regular  visitors  by  boat $  1,701  68 

excursions  by  boat   ...    229  75 

visitors  by  land SO  75 

"      lunch  table 2,933  70 

sales  from  greenhouse. '.   ....  383  35 

"     of  photographs 783  lid 

canes,  farm  produce,  etc    010  79 


59 

By  analyzing  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  for  each  passenger 
by  boat  the  Association  receives  thirty-four  cents.  They  have  a 
right  under  their  charter  to  collect  twenty-five  cents,  which  is  in- 
cluded in  the  fare  paid  on  the  boat.  The  other  nine  cents  is 
doubtless  paid  by  the  boat  for  wharfage.  The  fact  that  with 
navigation  closed  seven  weeks,  only  359  visitors  came  by  land 
during  the  year,  to  this  National  Mecca,  is  a  sad  commentary  on 
the  lack  of  enterprise  in  road- making,  in  a  part  of  our  country 
settled  for  more  than  two  hundred  years.  Italy,  Mexico  or  South 
America  could  not  be  worse.  If  the  inhabitants  were  New  Eng- 
land people,  or  if  Mount  Vernon  was  as  near  to  Boston  as  it  is  to 
Washington  City,  that  sixteen  miles  would  be  traversed  by  a  rail- 
road, if  it  had  to  be  cut  the  entire  distance  through  solid  granite. 
Then  hourly  trips  would  be  made  instead  of  daily,  and  thousands 
would  visit  Mount  Vernon  where  hundreds  go  now.  I  take  the 
liberty  of  speaking  thus  freely  because  I  was  almost  to  the  manor 
born,  my  ancestors  for  three  generations  having  been  natives  of 
old  London  County.  Adjourned  June  11,  to  meet  again  May  24, 
1882. 

Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  of  the  Union,  met  May  24, 
1882.  Council  opened  with  reading  of  Scripture  by  the  Regent 
and  recital  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  by  the  Ladies.  Regent  read  her 
report. 

In  speaking  of  the  deaih  of  George  W.  Riggs,  the  Washington 
banker  who  was  Treasurer  of  the  Association,  she  referred  to 
"the  faithful  and  generous  manner  in  which  he  stood  by  Mount 
Vernon  in  our  dark  days  during  the  war,  when  all  our  resources 
were  cut  off,  and  he  came  to  that  never-to-be-forgotten  Council, 
held  in  1864,  and  assured  us  that  he  would  advance  the  money 
necessary  to  support  Mount  Vernon  until  our  usual  sources  of 
revenue  were  opened  to  us. 

The  Superintendent's  report  for  the  year  closed  with  April  30, 
1882.  The  number  of  visitors  by  boat  was  14,893,  and  by  land 
194.  The  revenue  from  visitors  amounted  to  about  $5,110.00 
and  from  all  sources  $11,636.22,  and  the  expenditures  to 
$11,273.41. 

"The  sum  of  $100  was  voted  by  Council  to  be  presented  to  Col. 
Hollingsworth,  (Superintendent)  as  a  testimonial  of  their  appre- 
ciation of  his  constant  and  faithful  service  to  the  Association." 


60 

"Voted,  That  the  Superintendent  is  hereby  authorized  to  take 
a  vacation  of  two  weeks  each  summer  upon  leaving  Mount  Ver- 
non in  charge  of  a  suitable  and  responsible  person  during  his 
absence." 

"Superintendent  reported  to  Council  that  not  long  since  a  party 
of  Naval  officers,  with  ladies,  landed  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  when 
civilly  requested  to  pay  the  usuul  fee,  refused  to  do  so,  claiming 
that  they  were  exempt  from  payment  because  belonging  to  the 
Navy.  After  some  expostulation,  they  threw  down  the  money  in 
anger  and  went  away.  Council  approved  of  Sup<  rintendent's 
action  in  exacting  the  fee." 

"The  Finance  Committee  reported  through  Miss  Emily  Harper, 
Chairman  pro  ton,  that  the  Superintendent's  books  and  vouchers 
had  been  examined  and  found  correct ;  that  the  Committee  had  ex- 
amined the  expenditures  at  the  lunch  table  and  recommended  its 
continuance;  that  examination  had  been  made  into  sales  and 
profits  of  photographs,  and  the  result  was  less  satisfactory." 

"The  manner  in  which  Mr.  Johnson,  the  photographer,  has  ful- 
filled his  contract  with  the  Association  not  being  satisfactory. 
Council  revoked  the  permission  granted  him  by  the  Committee 
on  Photographs,  to  extend  his  sales  beyond  those  made  at  Mount 
Vernon  and  on  the  boat." 

"The  Superintendent  was  authorized  to  employ  William  Bolden 
to  sell  photographs  at  Mount  Vernon  during  the  summer,  and  to 
pay  him  $15.00  per  month." 

"  The  Association  has  found  Captain  Blake  faithful  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties,  attentive  to  the  interests  and  dignity  of  the 
Association,  and  courteous  in  fulfilling  all  the  proper  expectations 
of  visitors  to  Mount  Vernon."  His  contract  was  extended  five 
years,  or  until  1888. 

The  frequent  annoyances  from  parties  claiming  to  he  connected 
with  the  Navy,  landing  at  Mount  Vernon  wharf,  and  refusing  to 
pay  the  entrance  fee,  caused  the  Regent  to  request  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  to  forbid  such  infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. Secretary  Chandler  gave  prompt  orders  that  the  evil  be 
abated.  The  Association  caused  the  following  card  to  be  printed 
in  the  Washington  papers  : 

"The  frequent  arrival  of  steam  launches  and  private  yachts 
;it  Mount  Vernon,  bringing  parties  who  hind  without  being  willing 
to  pay  the  usual  charge,  has  convinced  the  Ladies  of  the  Mount 
Vernon  Association,  who  have  just  closed  their  Annual  Council, 
that  some  misapprehension  must  exist  in  the  minds  of  the  public, 
and  they  therefore  publish  the  following  notice,  hoping  that  it 
will  protect  the  Association  from  further  infringement  of  its 
rights : 


61 

"Whereas,  No  boat  except  the  steamer  W.  W.  Corcoran,  which 
holds  an  exclusive  contract  with  the  Association,  is  entitled  to 
land  passengers  at  Mount  Vernon,  therefore,  if  any  such  boat 
shall  come  to  Mount  Vernon,  it  will  only  be  permitted  to  land 
passengers  by  payment  of  the  same  amount,  per  Capita,  as  that 
received  upon  the  regular  boat,  ($1.00),  two-thirds  of  which  belong 
to  the  Captain  of  the  W.  W.  Corcoran  and  one-third  to  the  Mount 
Vernon  Association,  for  the  maintainance  of  the  place.-' 

The  sixteen  ladies  composing  this  Council  of  the  Mount  Vernon 
Ladies'  Association  of  the  Union,  were  Mrs.  Lilly  L.  Macalester 
Laughton.  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Regent,  and  fifteen  Vice-Regents 
namely:  Mrs.  M.  J.  M.  Sweat,  of  Portland,  Maine;  Miss  Alice 
M.  Longfellow,  of  Cambridge,  Mass, ;  Mrs.  J.  V.  R.  Townsend,  of 
Albany^  N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  N.  W.  Halsted,  Newark,  N.  J.  ;  Miss  Emily 
L.  Harper,  Baltimore,  M.  D. ;  Mrs.  Emma  R.  Ball,  Richmond, 
Va. ;  Mrs.  Ella  B.  Washington,  Charlestown,  West  Va. ;  Mrs. 
Letitia  H.  Walker.  Leakesville,  N.  C. ;  Mrs.  Lucy  H.  Pirkens, 
Edgefield,  S.  C. ;  Mrs.  Philoclea  E.  Eve,  Augusta,  Ga.  ;  Mrs.  Ella 
S.  Herbert,  Montgomery,  Ala.  After  spending  nine  days  in  Coun- 
cil, the  Association  adjourned  June  1st,  to  meet  again  May  25. 
1883. 

The  Ladies  have  done  and  are  doing  a  noble  work.  There  is 
no  reason  why  it  should  not  continue  indefinitely,  and  if  they 
would  be  more  free  in  communicating  with  the  people  they  would 
find  it  more  profitable,  and  mutually  agreeable  to  both  parties. 

In  answer  to  my  inquiries  of  one  who  is  in  a  position  to  know, 
comes  the  following  responce  :  "There  is  no  limitation  to  the  ex- 
istence of  the  Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association,  but  should  it 
ever  cease  to  exist,  from  any  cause  whatever,  the  property  would 
revert  to  the  State  of  Virginia.  The  question  of  making  it  free, 
however,  has  never  been  thought  of." 


BUNKER  HILL  MONUMENT  ASSOCIATION. 

June  17,  1775,  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought.  If  we  re- 
gard the  affairs  of  Lexington  and  Concord,  on  the  19th  of  April 
previous,  as  skirmishes,  this  was  the  first  regular  battle  of  the 
American  Revolution.  The  British  soldiers  were  commanded  by 
Sir  William  Howe,  and  the  American  colonists  by  Colonel  William 
Prescott,  aided  by  Putnam,  and  Pomeroy  and  Stark  and  Reed 


62 

and  knowlton,  and  others  equally  as  brave,  The  number  en- 
gaged on  the  side  of  the  British,  was  about  four  thousand  regulars, 
besides  seven  ships  of  war.  On  the  side  of  the  colonists,  there 
were  about  eighteen  hundred.  The  loss  in  killed  and  wounded, 
was,  on  the  side  of  England,  ten  hundred  and  fifty-four,  and  of 
the  Americans,  four  hundred  and  forty-nine. 

Joseph  Warren,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  an  eminent 
physician  of  Boston,  Grand  Master  of  the  Masonic  Grand  Lodge 
of  Massachusetts,  President  of  the  provincial  congress  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  chairman  of  the  committee  of  safety,  had  just  been 
elected  a  Major-General,  and  might  have  assumed  command,  but 
he  preferred  carrying  a  gun,  and  entered  the  ranks  as  a  volunteer. 
When  the  command  was  tendered  to  him  by  Colonel  Prescott, 
who  had  done  good  service  in  the  Indian  wars,  Warren  declined, 
saying  that  he  had  come  to  learn  the  art  of  war  from  a  veteran 
soldier.  A  friend  entreated  him,  before  entering  the  ranks,  not  to 
risk  his  life  as  a  private  soldier.  He  replied  in  Latin,  "Sweet  and 
graceful  it  is  to  die  for  one's  country."  He  fell  near  the  close  of 
the  battle,  saying  as  he  went  down,  "Fight  on,  my  brave  fellows, 
for  the  salvation  of  your  country." 

After  a  struggle  of  eight  years,  the  thirteen  American  colonit  s 
were  acknowledged  by  England  to  be  independent  States.  Until 
Independence  was  achieved,  there  was  little  time  devoted  to  hon- 
oring the  memory  of  those  who  had  fallen  in  the  conflict,  but, 
"soon  after  the  great  evacuation  day  of  Boston,  March  17.  177ii, 
the  body  of  General  Warren  was  found,  having  been  identified  by 
Dr.  Jeffries,  in  the  loss  of  a  joint  of  one  finger,  by  a  felon,  ami 
also  by  a  peculiar  tooth,  a  part  of  which  had  been  broken  off  in 
early  life.  The  body  was  re-interred,  with  solemn  ceremonies, 
at  King's  Chapel,  in  Boston,  April  8,  1776.  A  few  years  later, 
King  Solomon's  Lodge  of  Free  Masons,  in  Charlestown,  erected 
a  monument  of  wood,  eighteen  feet  high,  to  the  memory  of  Gen- 
eral Warren  and  his  associates,  on  the  spot  where  he  fell.  It  was 
dedicated  in  December,  1704,  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  Feb. 
3,  1796,  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts  passed  an  act  for  the 
protection  and  preservation  of  that  monument. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  a  bridge  was  built  across  the 
mouth  of  Charles  river,  connecting  the  cities  of  Boston  and 
( 'harlestown.  The  bridge  was  opened  by  a  procession  crossing  it 
amid  the  booming  of  cannon,  and  a  salute  of  thirteen  guns,  as 


63 

the  procession  reached  Bunker  Hill,  where  between  800  and  1,000 
persons  sat  down  to  a  sumptuous  dinner.  This  was  done  June 
17,  1786,  the  eleventh  anniversary  of  the  battle,  and  the  first  ob- 
servance of  the  day. 

As  the  result  of  a  quiet  conference  in  1822,  between  William 
Tudor,  Daniel  Webster,  Edward  Everett,  Thomas  Handasyd  Per- 
kins, and  Dr.  John  Collins  Warren,  a  nephew  of  the  martyr,  the 
latter  purchased  two  and  three-quarter  acres  of  the  battle  ground 
of  Bunker  Hill,  and  held  it  until  a  corporation  could  be  created. 
In  May,  1823,  these  five  gentlemen  with  a  number  of  others,  held 
a  meeting  at  which  twenty-six  gentlemen  subscribed  five  dollars  each 
as  the  preliminary  steps  to  forming  an  association  to  secure  the 
field  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  erecting  a  monument  on  the  same.  May 
28,  1823,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  Legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts for  an  act  of  incorporation  for  The  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment Association,  which  was  passed  and  approved  June  7,  1823. 
The  Association  was  organized  by  the  election  of  officers,  June 
17,  1823.  Five  dollars  was  established  as  the  fee  for  membership, 
and  twenty-five  gentlemen,  in  addition  to  those  who  effected  the 
organization,  were  elected  members  that  day. 

An  act  in  aid  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association, 
approved  Feb.  26,  1825,  appropriated  labor  in  dressing  the  stone, 
by  convicts  in  the  State's  prisons,  to  the  amount  of  ten  thousand 
dollars.  The  fifth  section  of  that  act  provides  for  turning  the 
Monument  over  to  the  State  when  it  is  completed,  conditioned  on 
the  State  making  suitable  provision  for  taking  care  of  it.  Under 
an  act  of  eminent  domain  the  Monument  Association  was  enabled 
to  secure  fifteen  acres  of  the  Bunker  Hill  battle  field,  including 
that  purchased  by  Dr.  John  C.  Warren.  The  total  cost  was 
$23,232.42. 

July  27,  1824,  a  standing  committee  of  five  was  raised  to  man- 
age the  affairs  of  the  Association,  in  order  to  avoid  the  necessity 
of  too  frequent  meetings  of  the  whole  body.  That  committee  re- 
ported March  1,  1825,  that  it  was  thought  advisable  for  the  Asso- 
ciation to  avail  itself  of  the  presence  of  General  Lafayette  in  this 
country  to  lay  the  corner  stone  of  the  Monument,  June  17,  1825. 
Hon.  Daniel  Webster  had  been  selected  at  the  previous  annual 
meeting,  before  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  was  thought  of,  as 
the  orator  for  that  annual  meeting.  He  had  also  been  elected, 
April  12th,  to  fill  the  vacancy  by  the  death  of  ex-Governor  John 


64 

Brooks,  the  President  of  the  Association.  By  this  combination 
of  circumstances  Mr.  Webster  was  both  President  of  the  Associa- 
tion and  orator  of  the  day  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone.  The 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts  defrayed  the  expenses  of  all  revo- 
lutionary soldiers  who  could  be  induced  to  come.  One  hundred 
and  ninety  were  present,  forty  of  whom  were  in  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill. 

June  17,  1825,  the  corner  stone  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument  was 
laid  by  John  Abbott,  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Mass- 
achusetts. General  Lafayette  stood  by,  received  the  trowel  from 
the  Grand  Master  and  spread  the  cement  over  the  corner  stone. 
The  Masonic  apron  he  wore  on  that  occasion  is  still  preserved  by 
the  Association.  Immediately  after  the  corner  stone  was  laid, 
Rev.  Joseph  Thaxter,  who  was  chaplain  to  Col.  Prescott's  regi- 
ment and  was  present  at  the  battle,  just  fifty  years  before,  re- 
turned thanks  for  the  past  and  invoked  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
the  new  enterprise.  An  ode  by  Rev.  John  Pierpont  was  next 
sung.  Then  followed  the  oration.  Mr.  Webster  was  in  the  full 
prime  of  his  manhood,  and  with  the  inspiring  presence  of  Lafay- 
ette, the  early  friend  of  the  struggling  colonies,  and  twenty 
thousand  of  his  fellow-citizens,  who  were  carried  away  by  his 
lofty  sentiments,  mingled  into  one  mass,  and  wrought  up  as  one 
man  to  the  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm,  when,  under  the  blessing 
of  (bxl,  he  bade  the  Monument  "to  rise  until  it  meet  the  sun  in 
his  coming." 

( >ne  of  Mr.  -Webster's  successors  as  President  of  the  Associa- 
tion, applied  to  him  the  couplet: 

"To  those  who  know  thee  not,  no  words  can  paint; 
And  those  who  know  thee,  know  all  words  are  faint." 

I 'inner  and  toasts  followed,  and  the  festival  closed  by  Mr. 
Webster  offering : 

"Health  and  long  life  to  General  Lafayette:" 

which  was  responded  to  by  the  General  with, 

"Bunker  Hill,  and  the  holy  resistance  to  oppression,  which  has  already  enfran- 
chised the  American  hemisphere.    The  nexl  half  century's  jubilee  toasl  snail  be, 

To  Enfk\nchised  Eueoi'k." 

Mr.  Webster  presented  the  manuscript  of  his  address  to  the 
Association,  and  it  was  readily  sold  for  six  hundred  dollars. 

On  the  seventh  of  June,  1825,  after  a  lengthy  discussion  as  to 
the  relative  merits  of  a  column  or  an  obelisk,  it  was  voted  that 
the  form  be  that  of  an  obelisk,  after  a  model  placed  before  the 


65 

Association  by  Horatio  Greenough.  The  exact  size  and  height 
was  not  determined  until  after  the  corner  stone  was  laid.  Green- 
ough's  plan  was  in  the  main  carried  out,  but  it  was  amended  and 
enriched  by  the  talents,  taste  and  influence  of  Loammi  Baldwin, 
one  of  the  directors. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  directors  July  5,  1825,  it  was 
definitely  settled  that  the  foundation  should  be  52  feet  square  and 
12  feet  deep,  the  Monument  30  feet  square  at  the  base,  15  feet  at 
the  top  and  220  feet  high,  and  that  it  would  cost  $100,000. 

September  1st,  1825,  the  Treasurer  reported  the  amount  of 
subscriptions  actually  received  was  $54,433.07.  The  payments 
for  land,  lying  corner  stone  and  other  expenses  amounted  to  $29,- 
416.03.  He  had  placed  $25,000  in  bank  at  five  per  cent.,  and 
had  in  his  hands  $17.04.  The  directors  voted  to  commence  the 
work,  and  placed  $25,000  at  the  disposal  of  the  building  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  Dr.  J.  C.  Warren,  chairman,  General  Dear- 
born, Amos  Lawrence,  George  Blake,  and  General  Sullivan. 
Alexander  Paris  prepared  the  corner  stone  and  personated  the 
architect  at  the  laying  of  the  stone,  and  his  name  was  inscribed 
on  the  plate  as  such.  He  also  laid  the  foundation.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  committee,  October  31st,  1825,  Soloman  Willard  was  elected 
,  architect  and  superintendent.  After  a  long  search  for  the  best 
material  he  found  an  inexhaustible  quarry  of  gray  granite  in  the 
western  part  of  the  town  of  Quincy,  and  that  was  the  introduction 
of  Quincy  granite  into  Boston  and  all  over  the  country.  Blocks 
could  be  secured  of  such  magnitude  as  to  make  the  courses  thirty- 
two  inches  deep.  The  ledge  was  twelve  miles  from  the  site  of  the 
monument.  A  charter  was  granted  March  4th,  1826,  to  a  com- 
pany for  the  purpose  of  building  a  railroad  to  transport  the  gran- 
ite, which,  it  is  asserted  was  the  first  railroad  in  the  United 
States.  The  State  of  Massachusetts  appropriated  $7,000  in  cash 
in  place  of  the  $10,000  formerly  appropriated  in  convict  labor, 
because  it  was  impracticable  to  work  the  convicts  so  far  from 
the  prison  at  Charlestown.  A  loan  of  $25,000  was  effected,  and 
when  all  was  expended,  amounting  to  $56,525.19,  the  monument 
had  reached  the  height  of  thirty-seven  feet  and  four  inches,  and 
in  February,  1829,  work  was  reluctantly  suspended  and  all  hands 
discharged.  During  the  year  1829,  the  ladies  of  the  State,  for 
the  first  time,  made  a  move  on  their  own  account,  and  raised  by 
subscription  $2,225.38,  which  was  placed  at  interest.  During  a 
—8 


66 

suspension  of  five  years,  a  part  of  the  land  was  sold,  to  the  deep 
regret  at  the  necessity,  of  all  concerned,  and  the  loan  was  paid 
off. 

Five  dollars  having  very  early  been  agreed  upon  as  the  amount 
necessary  to  secure  a  membership  certificate,  many  of  them  were 
held  by  parties  who  seldom  or  never  attended  business  meetings 
of  the  Association.  The  anti-masonic  excitement  growing  out  of 
the  alleged  abduction  of  William  Morgan  in  1826,  culminated  in 
the  formation  of  a  political  party.  The  anti-masonic  party,  op- 
posed to  all  secret  societies,  yet  by  secret  means  rallied  such  of 
these  dormant  members  as  answered  their  purpose,  and  at  the 
annual  meeting,  June  17th,  1831,  elected  a  sufficient  number  of 
directors  to  come  very  near  getting  control  of  the  Association,  but 
all  this  was  reversed  the  next  year,  terminating  the  only  effort  to 
identify  it  with  a  political  party. 

Under  the  influence  of  Paul  Revere,  the  patriot  leader  who 
carried  the  news  that  the  British  soldiers  were  on  the  march  from 
Boston  to  Lexington,  and  aroused  the  farmers  the  night  before 
the  battle  at  the  latter  place,  April  19th,  1775  ;  a  society  was 
established  in  Boston,  in  1795,  called  the  Massachusetts  Chari- 
table Mechanics'  Association,  for  improvement  iu  arts  and  manu- 
factures, the  charitable  care  of  fellow  members  overtaken  by  mis- 
fortune, and  for  social  intercourse.  Amos  Lawrence,  one  of  the 
wealthiest  merchants  of  Boston,  and  a  member  of  both  the  B.  H. 
M.  Association  and  the  M.  C.  M.  Association,  proposed  that  if 
the  latter  would  aid  in  raising  $50,000  for  the  completion  of  the 
monument,  he  would  give  $5,000  of  the  amount  and  would  con- 
tribute a  like  amount  to  the  Mechanics  association  when  it  was 
ready  to  build  an  edifice  for  itself.  Impelled  by  the  impetus  of 
this  offer  the  Mechanics  Association  raised  $10,000,  which  with 
the  ladies'  fund  amounted  to  about  $'20,000.  Under  the  auspices  of 
the  Charitable  Mechanics'  Association,  work  was  resumed  on  the 
monument  June  17th,  1834,  and  continued  until  November,  1835, 
when  it  reached  the  altidude  of  85  feet.  From  this  time  the 
president  of  the  Charitable  Mechanics'  Association  has  always 
been   elected   the   first   vice   president   of  the  B.  H.  Monument 

• 

Association. 

Following  this  suspension  of  the  work,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  passed  through  a  financial  hurricane  extending  from  1830 
to  1840,  such  as  they  had  never  experienced  before.    At  the  Annual 


67 

meeting  of  the  Association,  June  17th,  1839,  it  was  resolved  to  ad- 
journ to  July  1st,  when  a  resolution  was  passed  instructing  the 
directors  to  inaugurate  measures  to  raise  funds  for  completing  the 
monument.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Association,  June  17th,  1840, 
President  Buckingham  said  there  were  two  gentlemen  willing  to 
contribute  ten  thousand  dollars  each,  when  a  sufficient  amount 
should  be  raised  from  other  sources  to  complete  the  monument, 
which  would  require  about  forty  thousand  dollars.  It  was  known  to 
the  Association  that  a  considerable  number  of  the  most  influential 
ladies  of  Boston  were  willing  to  engage  in  a  Fair  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  funds  for  the  completion  of  the  monument.  At  a  meeting, 
July  25th,  a  resolution  was  passed  authorizing  the  Fair  to  be 
held  the  second  week  in  September.  The  most  intense  activity 
prevailed  from  that  time  among  all  classes  of  both  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  and  on  the  8th  of  September,  1840,  the  Fair 
opened  in  Quincy  Hall,  a  structure  38'2  feet  long  and  47  feet  wide. 
It  was  entirely  under  the  management  of  the  ladies,  and  the  arti- 
cles sold  were  chiefly  the  products  of  their  own  handiwork,  and 
were  sold  at  fair  prices,  giving  change  as  in  regular  business.  A 
daily  paper  entitled  ''The  Monument,"  edited  by  Mrs.  Sarah  J. 
Hale,  aided  by  its  sales  and  -advertisements  to  swell  the  funds. 
A  post  office  was  another  unique  institution.  It  was  not  for  re- 
ceiving, but  distributing  only.  "One  had  only  to  give  his  name 
in  full,  and  sure  enough  there  was  an  excellent  letter  in  waiting 
for  him,  properly  addressed,  for  which  he  had  to  pay  twenty  .five 
cents  postage,  as  it  had  come  all  the  way  to  Boston  from  Fairy- 
land." This  was  during  the  log-cabin  and  hard  cider  campaign, 
the  most  exciting  Presidential  election  ever  held. 

The  net  proceeds  of  the  Fair,  which  lasted  eight  days,  was 
$30,000,  which  with  $10,000  each  from  Amos  Lawrence  of  Boston, 
and  Judah  Touro,  was  sufficient  to  complete  the  monument.  Mr. 
Touro  was  a  native  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  son  of  a  Jewish 
priest  there.  He  commenced  business  in  Boston,  but  went  to 
New  Orleans,  where,  in  mercantile  business,  he  became  a  million- 
aire, and  was  living  there  when  he  made  the  liberal  donation  to 
the  Monument  Association.  He  participated  in  the  battle  of 
NewT  Orleans,  January  8th,  1815,  and  was  wounded  nigh  unto 
death. 

Previous  to  this  time,  or  during  the  two  former  stages  of  the 
building,  the  work  had  all  been  done  by  day  labor.  "Undoubtedly 


€8 

the  best  and  most  economical  method  of  executing  public  or  pri- 
vate works,  is  by  honest  day  labor  under  competent  and  faithful 
supervision."  But  now  the  public  feeling  was  decidedly  in  favor 
of  having  the  building  of  that  part  from  85  feet  up  to  220  feet, 
done  under  a  contract  that  would  come  within  the  means  at  the 
command  of  the  Association,  and  within  a  specified  time.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  directors  entered  into  a  contract  with  James  Sulli- 
van Savage,  Nov.  4,  1840,  to  complete  the  Monument  for  813,800, 
according  to  the  design  drawn  by  Solomon  Willard,  and  under 
his  direction  as  an  architect.  A  building  committee  was  ap- 
pointed, consisting  of  Charles  Wells,  George  Darracott,  John  P. . 
Thorndike  and  Charles  Leighton.  Charles  Wells,  as  chairman 
of  that  committee,  visited  the  Monument  every  working  day  dur- 
ing the  twrenty-one  months  the  work  was  in  progress,  and  the 
other  members  of  the  committee  gave  him  the  most  faithful  co- 
operation and  assistance. 

"On  Saturday  July  23,  1842,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
pursuant  to  public  notice,  the  directors  and  several  hundred  citi- 
zens assembled  on  Bunker  Hill  to  witness  the  laying  of  the  top- 
stone  upon  the  Monument.  As  the  clock  struck  six,  a  signal  gun 
was  fired  by  the  members  of  the  Charlestown  Artillery,  and  the 
cap-stone,  which  had  been  previously  adjusted  to  hoisting  appa- 
ratus connected  with  the  steam  engine,  immediately  began  to 
ascend.  It  was  surmounted  by  the  American  flag.  In  sixteen 
minutes  the  cap-stone  reached  its  destination.  At  half  past  six 
it  was  embedded  in  cement,  and  a  National  salute  tired  announc- 
ing the  completion  of  the  Monument." 

Mr.  Savage  was  a  practical  stone  mason,  and  had  worked  on 
the  Monument  under  Mr.  Willard,  during  the  first  two  stages  of 
the  building.  Dr.  Warren",  in  his  history  of  the  Monument,  page 
217.  says  :  "Mr.  Savage  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  the 
men  employed  to  work  upon  the  Monument  were  all  called  total 
abstinence  men,  and  that  not  a  drop  of  intoxicating  liquor  was 
ever  drank,  during  the  three  periods  of  its  construction,  by  those 
engaged  thereon." 

The  Monument  having  been  completed,  the  next  thing  in  order 
was  to  dedicate  it.  Hon.  Daniel  Webster  was  invited  to  deliver 
the  address  of  dedication,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1813,  eighteen 
years  from  the  time  he  had  delivered  the  oration  at  the  laying  of 
the  corner  stone,  and  the  sixty-eighth  anniversary  of  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill.  It  was  Saturday,  the  same  day  in  the  week  on 
which  the  battle  was  fought,  and  it  was  clear  and  beautiful.     In 


69 

the  presence  of  thirteen  of  the  soldiers  who  had  fought  in  the 
hattle  there,  and  ninety-five  others  who  had  fought  in  some  of 
the  battles  of  the  Eevolution,  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
with  his  cabinet,  the  Governors  of  several  of  the  States,  and  fifty 
thousand  citizens,  after  prayer  by  Rev.  George  E.  Ellis,  D.  D., 
President  Buckingham  presented  Mr.  Webster  to  the  audience, 
when  he  was  greeted  with  deafening  cheers.  First  congratulat- 
ing the  Association  on  the  grand  Monument,  he  reviewed  the 
origin  of  the  Nation's  Independence,  that  our  fathers  had  brought 
with  them,  the  Bible,  and  the  literature  and  best  institutions  of 
the  Old  World,  escaping  its  local  customs  and  fetters,  and  had 
planted  here  the  principles  of  representative  government.  Sum- 
ming up  all  we  had  gained  and  achieved,  he  said  :  "I  would  that 
the  fifty  thousand  voices  present  could  proclaim  it  with  a  shout 
which  should  be  heard  over  the  globe."  Dr.  JohnC.  Warren, one 
of  the  committee  of  arrangements,  had  expressed  the  opinion  that 
the  orator  could  not  possibly  come  up  to  his  effort  of  1825,  at  the 
same  place,  but  after  it  was  over,  he  declared  with  great  delight, 
"Mr.  Webster  has  surpassed  himself!" 

After  the  services  at  the  Monument,  a  sumptuous  dinner  was 
served  at  Faneuil  Hall,  after  which  came  the  feast  of  reason. 

The  first  toast  was  : 

"The  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill— Freedom  fell,  but  Liberty  triumphed." 

In  responce  the  whole  company,  standing,  sang  to  the  tune  of 
Old  Hundred,  two  stanzas  prepared  for  the  occasion. 
The  second  toast  was  : 

"The  Monument— The  proud  Memorial  of  a  defeat,  glorious  to  the  vanquished, 
and  of  a  victory  fatal  to  the  conquerers." 

There  were  other  excellent  toasts  and  responses,  but  it  is  some- 
what remarkable,  considering  the  efficient  aid  of  the  ladies,  that 
no  allusion  to  it  or  them  was  offered.  Something  like  the  follow- 
ing would  have  been  appropriate  : 

"Woman— The  cap-sheaf  of  Creation,  it  was  fitting  and  proper  that  she  should 
have  furnished  the  means  for  putting  the  cap-stone  on  the  Monument." 

The  fifth  toast  came  : 

"The  Orator  of  the  Day— If  we  would  find  his  equal  in  eloquence  and  patriotism, 
we  must  be  permitted  to  exercise  liberally  the  rigut  which  he  has  refused  to  the 
most  powerful  Notion  on  earth,  "The  Right  of  Seakch.  " 

That  toast  was  a  happy  allusion  to  the  fact  of  England  and  the 
United  States  having  learned  to  settle  their  differences  by  diplo- 
macy rather  than  war,  which  was  brought  about  by  Mr.  Webster, 


70 

as  Secretary  of  State,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Ashlmrton,  repudiating 
forever  the  right  claimed  by  England  to  search  American  vessels 
for  British  seamen. 

A  letter  from  Gov.  Marcus  Morton,  alluding  to  the  two  most 

liberal  benefactors  of  the  Association,  Amos  Lawrence  and  Judah 

Touro,  contains  both  the  spirit  of  a  toast  and  response : 

"Amos  and  Judah,  venerated  names, 
Patriarch  and  Prophet  press  their  equal  claims, 
Like  generous  coursers,  running  neck  and  neck, 
Each  aids  the  work  by  giving  it  a  check. 
Christian  and  Jew,  they  carry  out  one  plan, 
For  though  of  different  faith,  each  is  in  heart  a  man." 

According  to  previous  agreement,  the  building  committe  made 
arrangements  with  King  Soloman's  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  to  put  a  marble  copy  of  their  first  monument  erected  on 
the  battle  field,  within  the  completed  Monument,  which  was  done 
June  24,  1845,  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  with  im- 
posing cermonies. 

After  the  Monument  was  dedicated  the  building  committee  was 
continued  for  three  years.  A  second  contract  was  made  with  Mr. 
Savage,  under  which  he  held  possession  of  the  Monument,  with 
the  right  to  take  the  usual  fees  from  visitors ;  and  for  this  privil- 
ege  he  laid  a  granite  walk  ten  feet  wide  on  each  side  of  the  Mon- 
ument, erected  an  iron  fence  on  the  outer  line  of  the  same,  and 
also  laid  a  brick  sidewalk  on  the  streets  upon  the  four  sides  of 
the  square.  The  visitor's  fees  amounted  to  a  mnch  larger  sum 
than  the  committee  had  supposed  possible.  Mr.  Savage  retained 
the  steam  engine  that  was  used  for  hoisting  stone,  from  the 
beginning  of  his  contract,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  passenger 
car  to  the  top.  That  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  instance 
in  the  history  of  the  world  where  steam  was  utilized  as  a  motive 
power  in  hoisting  materials  in  building  a  monument.  The  fee 
for  those  who  ascended  on  foot  was  twelve  and  a  half  cents  ;  for 
those  who  used  the  car,  twenty  cents.  The  building  committee, 
in  their  report  for  June  17,  LS4r>,  say  that,  "From  the  commence- 
ment of  Mr.  Savage's  contracts  to  the  end,  he  has  appeared 
desirous  to  give  satisfaction,  and  to  exert  his  best  efforts  for  the 
fulfillment  of  his  engagements,  ami  your  committee  believe  that 
the  work  is  faithfully  and  satisfactorily  done." 

George  Washington  Warren,  from  whose  admirable  history  of 
the  hunker  Hill  Monument  Association  I  have  drawn  liberally  in 
these  notes,  after  having  served  as  Secretary  eight  years,  became 
President  of  the  Association  in  1847. 


71 

• 

June  17, 1850,  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the  battle  was  ob- 
served by  a  public  procession  and  an  oration  by  Hon.  Edward 
Everett,  who  was  then  president  of  Harvard  College.  After  the 
oration,  twelve  hundred  invited  guests  and  subscribers  to  the 
festival  sat  down  to  a  bountiful  and  elegant  dinner  that  had  been 
spread  in  a  large  hall.  That  day  Col.  T.  H.  Perkins,  ex-Presi- 
dent of  the  Association,  offered  §1,000  towards  the  erection  of  a 
Monument  on  Bunker  Hill  to  General  Warren,  which  it  was  after- 
wards decided  should  be  in  the  form  of  a  statue.  Subscriptions 
were  raised  from  various  sources  sufficient  to  complete  it,  and  it 
was  dedicated  June  17,  1857,  with  imposing  cermonies,  that  being 
the  eighty-second  aniversary  of  the  battle. 

October  19,  1860,  Albert  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales  and  heir 
apparent  to  the  British  throne,  with  his  full  suite,  visited  the 
Monument.  That  the  visit  was  on  the  79th  anniversary  of  the 
surrender  of  the  British  General,  Cornwallis,  to  General  Wash- 
ington at  Yorktown,  was  purely  accidental,  but  not  a  little  remark- 
able. For  the  first  time  the  British  ensign  was  displayed  from 
the  top  of  the  Monument,  by  the  side  of  the  American  flag.  On 
seeing  this  the  Prince  said  :  "This  Monument  was  not  erected  for 
our  glory."  President  G.  W.  Warren  replied  :  "True,  your  High- 
ness, but  it  marks  the  birth  of  a  kindred  Nation,  which  will  ever 
own  its  affection  for  the  mother  country,  and  as  an  ally  will  prove 
as  valuable  as  though  she  were  still  a  part  of  her."  To  this  his 
Koyal  Highness  gave  his  cordial  assent.  A  memorial  of  this  visit 
was  prepared,  and  a  copy  on  parchment  was  sent  to  the  Prince, 
and  one  retained  by  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association. 

When  armed  treason  trampled  the  stars  and  stripes  under  foot, 
the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association  determined  to  exalt  the 
flag  of  the  Nation  above  the  summit  of  the  Monument  erected  to 
its  glory.  A  mast  seventy  feet  long,  surmounted  by  a  gilt  ball, 
was  prepared  and  bolted  to  the  upper  courses  of  the  Monument, 
so  that  a  flag  of  the  largest  size  might  clear  its  apex.  On  the 
morning  of  June  17,  1861,  a  large  concourse  of  citizens  assembled 
at  the  base  of  the  Monument,  and  after  appropriate  preliminary 
services,  President  Warren  called  on  Governor  John  A.  Andrew  to 
unfurl  the  flag.  The  Governor  closed  a  most  patriotic  and  thrill- 
ing address  with  this  apostrophe  to  the  American  flag:  "Ke- 
spected  it  shall  be  in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts  ;  and  in  Char- 
leston, South  Carolina ;  on  the  Mississippi  and  on  the  Penobscot ; 


72 

in  New  Orleans  as  in  Cincinnati ;  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  as  in 
Lake  Superior,  and  by  France  and  England,  now  and  forever. 
Catch  it,  ye  breezes,  as  it  swings  aloft ;  fan  it,  every  wind  that 
blows,  clasp  it  in  your  anus  and  let  it  float  forever  as  the  starry 
sign  of  Liberty,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable."  With  these 
last  words  the  Governor  pulled  a  cord  which  loosened  the  flag, 
and  it  spread  out  large  and  beautiful  to  the  morning  breeze. 
Gilmore's  Band  played  the  Star  Spangled  Banner,  America  was 
sung,  and  patriotic  speeces  were  made.  The  flag  was  many  times 
displayed  during  the  war,  and  for  the  last  time,  Nov.  26,  1866, 
on  the  day  set  apart  for  National  Thanksgiving  for  the  termina- 
tion of  the  great  rebellion. 

The  observance  of  the  Centennial  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill 
was  talked  of  for  years  before.  It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance 
that  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  submitting  the  question  to  the 
suffrages  of  the  people,  the  two  cities  of  Boston  and  Charlestown 
voted  at  the  State  election  of  1873  to  unite.  The  union  was  af- 
fected on  the  first  Monday  in  January,  1874.  The  City  Council 
of  the  united  city  of  Boston,  appropriated  thirty-five  thousand 
dollars  to  be  expended  in  observing  the  Centennial.  Preparations 
were  actively  prosecuted  during  the  entire  year  before.  The  State 
of  Massachusetts  made  liberal  provision  for  the  entertainment  of 
distinguished  guests,  and  authorized  the  Governor  to  order  a  re- 
view of  all  the  volunteer  troops  of  the  State,  on  the  day  of  the 
celebration,  and  declared  the  17th  of  June  a  legal  holiday  for  that 
year. 

The  construction  of  a  granite  lodge,  or  Memorial  room,  to  take 
the  place  of  the  wooden  one,  has  been  under  consideration  since 
1843.  Funds  have  been  accumulating  for  the  purpose.  In  1837, 
the  Association  sold  ten  acres  of  its  land  to  pay  a  debt  of  $25,000. 
In  1876,  that  land  was  assessed  at  $608,800,  having  increased  in 
value  nearly  twenty-five  fold,  and  all  must  regret  that  the  whole 
fifteen  acres  could  not  have  been  retained  and  embellished  as  a 
park. 

Taking  a  retrospective  view,  we  find  that  twenty-four  citizens 
of  Massachusetts  were  authorized  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature, 
approved  June  7,  1823,  to  organize  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument 
Association.  The  organization  was  effected  June  17,  1823,  by  ac- 
cepting the  act  of  incorporation,  electing  twenty-five  additional 
gentlemen  to  membership,  choosing  a  board  of  twenty-five  direr- 


73 

tors,  electing  officers  and  establishing  five  dollars  as  the  fee  for 
membership.  Many  of  the  members  admitted  between  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Association  and  the  completion  of  the  Monument, 
are  yet  living,  and  they  are  all  entitled  to  take  part  in  the  busi- 
ness meetings,  upon  presentation  of  their  certificates,  but  the  list 
having  been  lost,  tho  exact  number  of  members  cannot  be  known. 
From  1844,  the  year  after  the  Monument  was  dedicated,  until 
1862,  not  a  new  member  was  admitted, — the  Association  seemed 
to  think  that  all  that  remained  to  be  done  was  for  the  old  mem- 
bers to  die  off.  In  the  latter  year  a  by-law  was  enacted  providing 
that  new  members  might  be  admitted  by  a  vote  of  the  Association 
upon  the  nomination  of  the  directors  or  the  standing  committee, 
retaining  the  rule  to  require  a  membership  fee  of  five  dollars.  A 
new  and  more  simple  form  of  membership  certificate  was  adopted. 
The  following  is  a  blank  copy  of  the  same : 

"Be  it  made  known  by  us,  the  President,  Treasurer  and  Secre- 
tary of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association,  instituted  in 
1823,  for  the  purpose  of  commemorating  the  early  events  of  the 
American  Eevolution,  by  the  erection  of  a  Monument  on  the 
ground  where  the  action  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought,  and  by  the 
appropriate  commemoration  of  the  glorious  anniversary  of  the 
17th  of  June,  1775,  that has  been  ad- 
mitted to  be  a  member  of  this  Association.     In  witness  whereof 

we  have  sighed  our  names  to  this  diploma  on  this 

day  of in  the  year  of  our  Lord 

and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of 

America,  the 

President. 

Treasurer. 

Secretary. " 

After  the  new'certificate  was  adopted  in  1862,  additional  mem- 
bers were  received  every  year,  and  from  that  time  until  the  Cen- 
tennial of  the  battle,  about  250  associate  members  were  elected, 
and  down  to  and  including  the  annual  meeting  of  1884,  the  num- 
ber admitted  was  448.  The  number  of  actual  living  members  is 
something  more  than  that  number,  for  the  Secretary  says : 
"There  are  many  old  members  of  1823  to  1842,  still  living,  who 
are  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  new  members ;  but  the  list  has 
been  mislaid,  and  we  never  know  the  exact  number  of  members." 
—9 


74 

Lafayette  and  Simon  Bolivar  were  the  two  first  honorary  mem- 
bers elected  by  the  Association,  and  down  to  the  Centennial  year 
of  the  battle,  seventy-four  honorary  members  had  been  admitted, 
none  of  whom  were  living  who  had  been  admitted  previous  to 
1868.  The  number  admitted  down  to  the  close  of  the  annual 
meeting  for  1884,  was  eighty-five,  the  last  one  being  our  own 
George  Bancroft,  the  historian.  Among  those  from  foreign  coun- 
tries, admitted  as  honorary  members,  was  General  Lafayette, 
Simon  Bolivar,  Dom  Pedro,  Guiseppe  Garibaldi,  Oscar  Lafayette, 
Edmond  de  Lafayette  and  the  Marquis  de  Rochambeau. 

The  Centennial  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  observed  June 
17th,  1875.-  A  business  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held 
June  5th,  when  seventy-six  new  members  were  admitted,  and 
arrangements  made  for  omiting  the  business  meeting  on  the 
anniversary,  by  an  adjournment  to  June  23d,  when  thirty  more 
new  members  were  admitted,  making  the  whole  number  of  living 
associate  members  two  hundred  and  twenty-four.  At  each 
annual  meeting  every  member  may  take  part  in  the  transaction 
of  the  business.  At  this  meeting  the  election  of  officers  takes 
place,  consisting  of  one  President,  five  Vice-Presidents,  one 
Treasurer,  one  Secretary  and  fifty  Directors.  The  Board  of 
Directors,  with  the  President  and  Vice-President,  select  a  stand- 
ing Committee  of  ten.  They,  with  the  President,  Secretary  and 
Treasurer  of  the  Association,  the  three  la-tter  of  whom  are  ex- 
officio  members,  make  the  standing  Committee  number  thirteen. 
The  ordinary  business  is  transacted  by  the  standing  Committee, 
except  when  the  entire  board  of  directors  is  called  together. 
The  President  of  the  Association  is  always  chairman  of  the  stand- 
ing Committee.  Since  the  Massachusetts  Charitable  Mechanics' 
Association  came  to  the  aid  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument 
Association  in  1833,  the  President  of  the  former  has  always  been 
elected  first  Vice-President  of  the  latter. 

The  total  cost  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  was  $133,694.83. 
From  the  time  it  was  completed  in  1843,  there  has  been  a  stated 
fee  taken  for  the  admittance  of  visitors.  I  have  not  the  statement 
for  every  year,  but  I  find  the  following  in  tabulated  form. 


75 

YEAE.  EECEIPTS.  EXPENSES. 

1866-67  $5,294  70  $1,605  71 

1867,-68  5,132  40  1,666  71 

1868-69  6,102  80  1,775  14 

1869-70  5,745  50  2,055  53 

1870-71  5,007  40  2;294  48 

1871-72  5,265  40  2,727  10 

1872-73  5,888  30  2,615  59 

The  following  are  the  statements  by  the  Custodian  of  B.  H. 
Monument  in  the  last  eleven  annual  reports. 

From  June  2d,  1873,  to  May  30th,  1874— 

24,457  adults  visited  at  20  cents  each $4,891  40 

839  children  at  10  cents  each 83  90 

Total 4,975  30 

For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1875 — 

24,169  adults  at  20  cents  each $4,833  80 

997  children  at  10  cents  each 99  70 

Total 4,933  50 

For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1876 — 

23,334  adults  at  20  cents  each $4,666  80 

1,029  children  at  10  cents  each 102  90 

Total 4,769  70 

For  the  year  ending  June  1st,  1877 — 

22,766  adults  at  20  cents  each t$4,553  00 

791  children  at  10  cents  each 79  10 

Total 4,632  30 

For  the  year  ending  June  1st,  1878 — 

lS,606*adults  at  20  cents  each   $3,721  20 

946  children  at  10  cents  each 94  60 

Total 3,815  80 

For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1879— 

19,533  adults  at  20  cents  each $3,906  60 

752  children  at  10  cents  each 75  20 

Total 3,981  80 

For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1880— 

25,279  adults  at  20  cents  each $5,055  80 

921  children  at  10  cents  each   92  10 

Total 5,147  90 

For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1881 — 

26,080  adults  at  20  cents  each $5,216  00 

243  children  at  10  cents  each 24  30 

Total 5,240  30 


76 

For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1882 — 

30,219  adults  at  20  cents  each $0,043  80 

448  children  at  10  cents  each  44  so 

Total 0,088  60 

For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1883 — 

28,047  adults  at  20  cents  each $5,009  40 

107  children  at  10  cents  each 10  70 

Total 5,020  10 

For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1884 — 

30,357  adults  at  20  cents  each $(5,071  40 

307  children  at  10  cents 36  70 

Total 6,108  10 

The  fees  for  the  admission  of  new  members. 

June  9th  1874,  fourteen  members $  70  00 

"     17th  1874,  twenty  members 100  00 

"     5th  and  23d,  1875,  ninety  members 450  00 

1870-77,  fourteen  members 70  00 

1877-78,  eighteen  members 90  00 

1880-81,  twenty-six  members 130  00 

1881-82,  forty-seven  members 235  00 

1882-83,  forty-five  members 225  00 

1883-84,  twenty-nine  members 145  01) 

The  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association  has  always  been  com 
posed  of  men  of  the  very  highest  culture  and  of  the  most  exalted 
patriotism.  Professors  of  Harvard  College,  lawyers,  physicians, 
statesmen,  and  men  of  the  highest  learning  combined  with  prac- 
tical knowledge  in  mechanics  and  civil  engineering,  merchants, 
mechanics  and  business  men  of  all  classes,  have  one  and  all 
devoted  their  time,  talents  and  money  to  the  interests  of  the 
Association.  Daniel  Webster  delivered  two  grand  orations  on  its 
behalf,  one  while  he  was  its  President,  at  the  laying  of  the  corner 
stone,  -June  17,  1825,  and  again  at  the  dedication,  June  17,  1843. 
Edward  Everett  served  it  many  years  as  Secretary  and  President, 
delivered  orations  at  a  number  of  annual  celebrations,  and  in  the 
raising  of  money  on  various  occasions.  Hon.  Charles  Devcns, 
Jun.,  delivered  an  oration  at  the  Centennial  celebration,  June  17, 
1875,  that  was  seldom,  if  ever,  surpassed  in  any  language  or  any 
occasion. 

Solomon  Willard,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  architects, 
gave  eighteen  years  devoted  service  free  of  charge,  and  $1,000  in 
cash,  towards  the  Monument,  and  it  is  asserted  by  the  members 


77 

of  the  Association,  that  the  entire  cost  is  many  thousands  of  dol- 
lars less  than  it  would  otherwise  have  heen,  all  owing  to  the  in- 
telligent and  liberal  supervision  by  Mr.  Willard.  Such  was  his 
habitual  liberality  as  to  draw  from  Edward  Everett  the  remark, 
that  "he  wanted  to  do  everything  for  everybody  for  nothing." 

Charles  Wells,  George  Darracott,  John  P.  Thorndike  and 
Charles  Leighton,  were  the  building  committee  who  supervised 
the  work  in  carrying  out  the  contract  of  Mr.  Savage,  in  building 
the  Monument  from  85  up  to  221  feet,  one  and  a  half  inches,  the 
exact  height  of  the  Monument  as  found  by  actual  measurement, 
while  the  scaffolding  was  around  it  for  the  purpose  of  repairs,  in 
October,  1882.  The  consequence  of  such  faithful  supervision  was, 
that  for  thirty  years  after  the  Monument  was  dedicated,  there 
was  not  a  dollar  expended  for  repairs..  A  thorough  repairing  and 
painting  in  1882,  nearly  forty  years  after  it  was  erected,  cost  less 
than  eight  hundred  dollars. 

As  long  as  there  was  any  Revolutionary  soldiers,  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  made  it  a  point  to  pay  the  expense  of  gathering 
them  whenever  there  was  any  important  demonstration  at  the 
Monument,  besides  the  liberal  appropriation  she  made  in  build- 
ing it,  and  for  the  entertainment  of  distinguished  guests  from 
abroad  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone,  at  the  dedication  and  at 
the  Centennial  celebration.  With  her  one  and  three-quarters 
million  population,  and  great  wealth,  she  could  make  access  to 
the  Monument  free  and  not  feel  it,  but  she  does  not  choose  to  do 
so,  recognizing  the  fact  that  the  small  fee  of  twenty  cents  is  not 
a  burden  to  the  poorest,  and  that  it  makes  each  one  who  pays 
that  amount  feel  that  they  have  a  vested  interest  in  it. 

The  cities  of  Charlestown  and  Boston  have  always  made  liberal 
provision  for  any  public  demonstration  connected  with  the  Monu- 
ment, and  the  united  city  of  Boston  manifested  her  liberality  by 
appropriating  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  to  be  used  in  celebrat- 
ing the  Centennial  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  With  her 
population  of  four  hundred  thousand,  she  could  defray  the  ex- 
pense of  caring  for  the  Monument,  but  she  doubtless  comes  to 
the  logical  conclusion  that  when  her  citizens  become  so  mercen- 
ary that  they  will  not  bear  the  test  of  twenty  cents  for  a 
visit  to  this  hallowed  spot,  it  will  be  time  to  turn  it  over  to  the 
Government,  to  support  a  light  to  guide  the  commerce  of  the 
world  into  her  harbor. 


78 

George  Washington  Warren,  President  of  the  Association,  in 
his  annual  address  for  1874,  referred  to  the  provision  in  the 
charter  for  turning  the  Monument  over  to  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, also  to  a  suggestion  that  had  been  made  the  previous 
year,  to  turn  it  over  to  the  city  of  Boston,  hut  he  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  there  was  work  for  the  Association  to  do  that  would 
last  another  generation,  and  there  was  no  move  for  disbanding  it.- 
President  Warren  referred  to  the  subject  again  in  his  address 
before  the  annual  meeting  in  June,  1875,  the  Centennial  year : 
"This  Association  was  intended  to  be  a  permanent  body,  having 
for  its  object,  besides  the  erection  of  the  Monument,  the  celebra- 
tion of  this  anniversary,  as  well  as  the  collection  and  preserva- 
tion of  documents  and  relics  illustrative  of  our  Revolutionary 
epoch,  and  the  procuring  of  statues,  busts,  or  portraits  of  the  dis- 
tinguished heroes  of  the  time.  I  trust  that  this  purpose  will  be 
carried  out,  and  that  our  Monument  will  he  surrendered  neither 
to  the  State  nor  the  City." 

From  the  report,  for  1883,  of  the  standing  committee,  of  which 
Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln  is  chairman,  I  make  the  following  extract : 

"It  is  forty  years,  on  this  anniversary,  since  the  celebration  of 
the  completion  of  the  Monument,  with  imposing  ceremonies,  and 
the  second  great  oration  of  Mr.  Webster.  It  is  manifest  that,  as 
time  rolls  on.  the  Monument  itself,  and  the  event  which  it  com- 
memorates, lose  no  interest  to  the  American  people,  or  to  the 
lover  of  free  institutions  from  other  lands.  The  organization 
which  has  it  in  charge,  and  whose  functions  is  to  keep  alive,  in 
tangible  forms,  its  sacred  memories,  never  was  in  a  more  pros- 
perous condition.  Each  year  adds  to  its  number  the  men  of  this 
generation,  who,  in  honoring  the  deeds  of  the  Fathers,  carry  with 
it  also  the  assurance  that  the  principles  for  which  they  fought 
are  still  believed  to  be  the  crowning  glory  of  the  Republic,  and 
the  true  test  of  American  citizenship." 

Having  a  desire  to  learn  from  the  experience  of  others,  I  wrote 
to  the  veteran  Custodian,  J.  B.  Goodnow,  who  is  seventy-three 
years  old  and  has  been  forty  years  in  charge  of  Bunker  Hill  Mon- 
ument, asking  him  such  questions  as  I  thought  would  draw  out 
the  desired  information.  In  his  reply  of  Dec.  20,  1883,  he  says:  ' 
"I  send  you  our  lasl  yearly  report,  by  which  you  will  see  there 
has  been  no  change  in  the  tee,"  (twenty  cents).  From  his  letter 
of  Jan.  12,  L884,  1  make  this  extract :  "You  ask  me  if  some  vis- 
itors do  not  complain  about  paying  a  fee.  Some  do,  not  many 
when  I  tell  them  how  it  is  conducted.     Some  clear  out— will  not 


79 

go  up.   They  think  it  should  be  free,  however,  I  do  not,  for  I  think 
it  is  better  as  it  is,  than  to  belong  to  the  City  or  State. 

A  note  from  Mr.  A.  C.  Fearing,  Jr.,  Secretary  of  the  B.  H. 
Monument  Association  says:  "The  Monument  is  kept  in  better 
order  and  less  expense  than  if  the  State  or  City  had  charge  of  it." 

I  applied  to  Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of 
the  Association,  for  publications  relating  to  the  Monument.  He 
referred  the  matter  to  the  Secretary,  who  sent  me  their  annual 
reports  for  ten  years.  He  also  wrote  a  note  to  Mr  Lincoln,  who 
sent  it  to  me  with  one  of  his  own.  The  following  is  the  letter  of 
the  Secretary. 

"Boston,  January  28th,  1884. 
"Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln. 

"Dear  Sir: — I  will  send  Mr.  Power  a  package  of  reports  as  re- 
quested. And  in  answer  to  his  inquiries  would  say  that  Mr. 
Goodnow,  our  superintendent,  informs  me  that  there  are  a  few 
visitors  who  complain  of  the  charge  for  admittance,  and  think 
that  the  Monument  should  be  free  to  all,  but  they  are  usually 
satisfied  with  his  explanation  that  all  the  receipts  are  used  to  pay 
the  expenses.  There  has  never  been  any  public  complaint.  I 
have  never  seen  a  letter  on  our  files,  or  any  newspaper  article  on 
the  subject.  As  one-third  of  our  visitors  are  from  Massachusetts, 
we  should  certainly  have  heard  of  it  if  there  had  been  a  general 
complaint.  I  do  not  remember  any  move  made  to  have  the  City 
or  State  assume  the  expense  and  management  of  the  Monument, 
excepting  a  suggestion  made  in  1873,  as  stated  in  Mr.  Warren's 
report  for  1874,  but  no  discussion  was  held  and  no  action  taken 
on  the  subject.  The  Centennial  of  1875,  and  the  inaguration  of 
the  Prescott  Statue  in  1881,  renewed  the  interest  in  the  Associa- 
tion. Our  own  members,  and  I  think  the  public,  would  preferthat 
the  management  of  the  Monument  should  remain  with  the  Asso- 
ciation. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

A.  C.  Fearing,  Jr.,  Secretary/' 

With  the  above  letter  came  one  from  Hon.  Frederick  W.  Lincoln 
under  the  date  of 

"Boston,  February  12th,  1884. 
"Mr.  J.  C.  Power. 

"Dear  Sir: — Yours  of  the  17th  of  January,  together  with  some 
photographs  of  the  Lincoln  Monument  were  received,  for  which 
accept  my  thanks.  I  enclose  a  note  from  our  Secretary  which  I 
heartily  endorse.  I  think  it  would  be  the  best  plan  to  keep  the 
Monument  in  your  own  organization,  if  in  some  way  you  can  secure 
the  funds  for  the  necessary  expenses.     If  you  have  a  sufficient 


80 

balance  over,  from  which  you  could  draw  an  income  when  funded, 
or  could  obtain  an  annual  grant  from  the  Legislature,  or  charge 
fees  for  admittance,  this  end  may  be  attained.  To  perpetuate  the 
organization,  I  suppose  you  could,  from  time  to  time,  enlarge  your 
members  by  the  admission  of  influential  citizens  interested 
in  such  matters.  *  *  *  *  * 

"Our  enterprise  is  not  complete,  for  we  propose  to  erect  a  Granite 
Lodge  for  Revolutionary  relics,  as  well  as  more  statues  for  the 
grounds.  If  your  orgination  has  an  annual  meeting,  such  an 
occasion  would  call  to  the  notice  of  the  people  the  services  of  the 
loyal  men  who  were  engaged  in  the  struggle  for  the  preservation 
of  the  Union ;  and  especially  the  merits  of  the  great  civil  Leader 
under  whose  administration  it  was  successful.  Each  anniversary 
would  inspire  gratitude  for  the  past,  and  stimulate  patriotism  for 
the  present  and  future. 

"Of  course  I  have  written  this  without  knowing  exactly  the  form 
of  youx  orginization,  and  do  not  know  if  my  ideas  are  practical  in 
your  case. 

I  remain,  yours  very  truly, 

F.  W.  Lincoln." 

The  following  is  from  the  address  of  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop, 
President  of  the  B.  H.  Monument  Association  at  their  annual 
meeting,  June  17th,  lh84. 

"It  has  sometimes  been  suggested  that  our  Association  has 
finished  its  work  and  might  even  be  suffered  to  die  out  and  dis- 
appear. And  it  is  true  that,  in  building  up  yonder  massive  Monu- 
ment, it  long  ago  accomplished  the  primary  object  of  its  organi- 
zation. It  might,  indeed,  have  terminated  its  existence  in  triumph, 
when  the  thrilling  tones  of  the  same  matchless  voice  which  had 
been  listened  to  with  so  much  delight  at  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone, were  heard  again,  in  undiminished  grandeur,  when  the  cap- 
stone was  brought  forth  with  shoutings  ! 

"But  tbis  Association  had  charged  itself  at  the  outset  with 
something  more  than  the  erection  of  a  granite  obelisk.  Not  only 
was  watch  and  ward  to  be  kept  over  that  structure  and  its  sur- 
roundings, but  the  memory  of  the  momentous  struggle  which  it 
commemorates,  and  of  the  heroic  officers  and  soldiers  engaged  in 
that  struggle,  was  to  be  kept  forever  fresh  and  green  ;  and  what- 
ever could  contribute  to  the  illustration  of  that  opening  scene  of 
the  American  Revolution  was  to  be  gathered  up  and  sacredly 
guarded  for  posterity.  All  this  was  contemplated  and  included  in 
the  original  design  of  this  Association  :  and  of  such  a  design,  in 
all  its  significance  and  fullness,  and  of  the  work  which  it  involves, 
there  can  be  no  completion. 

"Nor  can  the  Association  which  has  assumed  this  special  and 
sacred  trust  ever  abandon  it.  It  will  assemble  from  year  to  year, 
in  all  time  to  come,  as  it  has  assembled  to-day,  to  attest  its  obli- 


81 

gations  and  renew  its  pledges.  From  such  obligations  and  pledges 
there  can  be  do  discharge,  and  I  venture  to  say  there  will  be  no 
disposition  to  escape.  *  *         * 

And  thus  our  Association  must  be  counted,  and  must  count  it- 
self, as  permanent  and  perpetual  in  its  nature  and  design,  and 
can  only  be  dissolved,  or  suffered  to  die  out,  when  our  country 
shall  cease  to  have  a  place  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
when  American  Liberty  shall  no  longer  enlighten  the  world." 


THE  WASHINGTON  MONUMENT,  AT  WASHINGTON,  DIS- 
TRICT OF  COLUMBIA. 

General  George  Washington,  ex-President  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  died  December  14,  1799.  Upon  the  announcement  of 
his  death  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  a  joint  resolution  was 
passed  to  build  a  marble  monument  to  his  memory  at  the  seat 
of  the  Federal  Government.  "From  time  to  time  the  resolution 
wss  revived  in  one  house  or  the  other  for  a  long  series  of  years, 
but  always  died  the  death  of  postponement." 

The  failure  of  the  National  Legislature  to  carry  out  its  own 
pledges  led  to  the  organization  of  a  voluntary  society  in  Septem- 
ber, 1833,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  funds  and  building  a  mon- 
ument to  the  memory  of  the  Father  of  his  country.  It  was  styled 
the  "Washington  National  Monument  Society."  I  am  not  able 
say  at  what  date  the  work  was  commenced,  but  twenty-two  years 
after  the  organization  of  the  Society  the  Monument  had  reached 
an  altitude  of  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet.  The  resources 
of  the  Society  were  so  near  exhausted  that  the  work  was  sus- 
pended in  1855.  In  1859  the  Washington  Monument  Society  was 
incorporated  by  Congress  with  nineteen  members,  of  whom  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  ex-ojficio  President.  The  work 
lay  dormant  until  1880,  when  Congress  took  the  matter  in  hand, 
appropriated  funds,  and  for  the  last  four  years  it  has  gone  for- 
ward as  rapidly  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit.  It  is  ex- 
pected that  the  finishing  touches  will  be  put  on  it  during  the 
present  year — 1884.  • 

The  Washington  Monument  has  an  interior  spiral  stairway  from 

bottom  to  top.     It  has  also  an  elevator  run  by  steam  for  hoisting 
—10 


82 

materials,  but  whether  it  will  or  will  not  be  retained  for  carrying 
visitors  to  the  top,  the  writer  is  not  advised.  On  the  inside, 
stones  with  suitable  inscriptions,  from  every  State  of  our  Union, 
and  from  nearly  all  the  Nations  of  the  world,  are  built  in  the 
walls,  but  its  principal  characteristic  is  its  immense  altitude,  be- 
iing  five  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet  high,  from  ground  line  to 
lapex.  Think  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-one  feet  added  to  tbt 
dome  of  our  State  Capitol,  and  you  have  the  height  of  the  Wash- 
ington Monument.  As  there  has  not  any  record  come  down  to  us, 
of  the  height  of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the 
Washington  Monument  is  the  tallest  structure  ever  known  to  have 
been  erected  by  the  hands  of  men. 

For  twenty-five  years,  from  1855  to  1880,  the  Monument  was 
closed  to  all,  and  a  watchman  kept  in  charge  at  fifty  dollars  per 
month,  to  take  care  of  the  property  and  grounds.  Since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  work  on  the  shaft — in  1880 — visitors  have  been 
permitted  to  ascend  to  the  top,  when  in  the  discretion  of  the  over- 
seer, there  was  no  danger,  and  no  inconvenience  would  result  to 
the  operations  going  on,  the  permits  being  issued  by  the  engineer 
officer  in  charge  of  the  construction.  There  has  never  been  any 
charge  for  admittance.  "Whether  upon  completion,  after  the 
22d  of  February  next, — 1885 — any  fee  will  be  taken  for  entrance 
and  ascent  by  the  steam  elevator,  is  not  determined.  Should  the 
United  States  government  continue  in  charge,  it  would  be  hardly 
proper ;  but  if  the  management  be  referred  to  the  present  Advis- 
ory Board, — the  Washington  Monument  Society, — there  may  be." 

From  Hon.  Horatio  King,  Secretary  of  the  Washington  Monu- 
ment Society,  and  his  assistant,  F.  L.  Harvey,  I  learn  that  there 
is  not  now  any  complete  printed  account  of  the  Monument,  that 
the  facts  are  mainly  contained  in  the  records  of  the  Monument 
Society,  and  scattered  through  the  volumes  of  the  "Annals  of 
Congress,"  by  Gales  and  Seaton.  Much  of  this  information  has 
been  collated,  and  is  now  in  manuscript  of  many  pages,  and  will 
be  printed  and  issued  soon  after  the  Monument  is  completed. 


THE  GARFIELD  MONUMENT  AT  CLEVELAND,  OHIO. 

Gen.  James  A.  Garfield,  President  of  the  United  States,  was 
shot  by  an  assassin,  at  Washington,  D.  C,  July  2,  1881,  and 
after  suffering  untold  agonies  until    September   19tlr,   died  at 


83 

Elberon,  New  Jersey.  Offers  of  contributions  for  the  erection  of 
a  Monument  to  his  memory  came  from  many  sources  before  his 
remains  found  a  resting  place  in  Lake  View  Cemetery,  at  Cleve- 
land, Ohio.  The  Garfield  National  Monument  Association  was 
organized  soon  after,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  Monument  to 
his  memory.  After  collecting  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  prizes 
of  $1,000,  $750  and  $500  were  offered  for  the  first,  second  and 
third  best  designs  for  a  Monument. 

Before  the  trustees  passed  upon  the  designs,  two  expert  archi- 
tects, Calvert  Vaux,  of  New  York,  and  Harry  Van  Brunt,  of  Boston, 
examined  and  studied  the  designs  separately,  and  each  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  other.  Their  judgments  were  concurrent  as 
to  the  superiority  of  the  design  offered  by  Mr.  George  Keller, 
consequently  the  trustees  awarded  to  Mr.  George  Keller,  of  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  the  first  prize  of  $1,000 ;  to  C.  F.  and  J.  C.  Schwein- 
furth,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  the  second  prize  of  $750;  and  to  Moffit 
&  Doyle,  of  New  York  City,  the  third  prize  of  $500. 

"The  Monument  will  be  built  after  Keller's  design,  with  some 
modifications  introduced  from  the  other  two  designs.  Before 
putting  his  ideas  into  shape,  Mr.  Keller  went  over  the  ground 
where  the  Monument  is  to  be  built,  and  endeavored  to  conform  it 
to  the  surroundings,  at  the  same  time  typifying  Garfield's  char- 
acter, and  adopted  the  tower  form  as  best  suited  to  his  purpose. 
It  rises  from  broad  terraces  which  are  reached  by  spreading  stairs, 
forming  a  dignified  approach  to  the  Monument.  A  projecting 
porch  at  the  base  of  the  tower  contains  a  vestibule,  on  one  side  of 
which  is  placed  the  keeper's  office,  and  on  the  other  a  room  for  a 
visitor's  register  and  for  the  reception  of  relics.  The  vestibule 
leads  into  a  round,  vaulted  chamber,  the  stone  dome-like  roof  of 
which  is  carried  on  eight  granite  columns,  arranged  in  a  circle 
around  the  sculptured  tomb,  which  occupies  the  center  of  the 
chamber.  The  capitals  of  columns  and  molded  arches  between 
are  richly  carved,  the  pavement  is  tiled  in  harmonious  colors  and 
designs,  and  the  whole  is  lighted  by  richly  mullioned  windows, 
which  throw  a  softened  light  on  the  tomb.  An  aisle  outside  of 
the  columns  surrounds  the  chamber,  a  side  wall  of  which  is  deco- 
rated with  niches  for  the  reception  of  statues  or  vases  of  flowers. 

"A  spiral  staircase  of  stone  leads  to  the  top  of  the  tower,  so 
constructed  that  in  ascending  the  tower  it  winds  around  the  tomb 
below.  In  making  one  revolution  of  the  tower  there  are  four 
flights  of  stairs,  and  a  landing  is  provided  at  the  foot  of  each 
flight,  lighted  by  triple  windows,  from  which  a  view  of  the  land- 
scape can  be  obtained.  At  the  top  the  spiral  staircase  opens  on 
a  gallery  from  which  the  surrounding  country  can  be  viewed. 


84 

On  the  outside  of  the  Monument,  above  the  portal,  is  a  frieze  of 
sculpture  six  feet  in  height,  extending  entirely  around  the  base  of 
the  tower  and  within  easy  view  from  the  ground.  It  is  divided 
into  panels  containing  bas-reliefs  which  represent  in  a  graphic 
manner  the  career  of  Garfield  as  an  educator,  a  soldier  and  states- 
man ;  long  and  anxious  waiting  and  watching  of  the  world  over 
his  death-bed,  and  the  remarkable  funeral  procession  from 
Elberon  to  Cleveland.  The  remains  of  the  President  will  be  en- 
closed in  a  crypt  below  the  level  of  the  chamber,  occupying  space 
between  two  of  the  bays. 

"The  designer  suggested  Ohio  stone  and  buff-colered  terra  cotta 
for  the  construction  of  the  Monument.  The  whole  Monument 
can  be  built  thoroughly  for  $150,000.  The  dimensions  are  not 
given,  but  from  the  plans  the  trustees  estimated  the  base  to  be 
about  fifty  feet  square  and  the  Monument  to  be  225  feet  in  height, 
surmounted  by  a  figure  at  the  apex.  A  statue  of  Garfield,  of  a 
design  not  yet  agreed  upon,  will  be  placed  at  the  entrance  to  the 
vestibule.  From  the  windows  at  the  top  of  the  Monument  a 
magnificent  view  of  the  city  and  its  suburbs  can  be  obtained,  and 
the  birthplace  of  Garfield,  eight  miles  away,  can  almost  be  seen." 

From  a  letter  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Rhodes,  Secretary  of  the  Garfield 
National  Monument  Association,  under  date  of  Oct.  23,  1884,  I 
make  the  following  extract : 

"The  present  situation  of  the  Garfield  Monument  is  simply  this  : 
We  have  accepted  the  design  of  Mr.  George  Keller,  of  Hartford, 
Conn.,  of  which  I  send  you  a  photograph.  As  it  is  now  too  late 
in  the  season  to  begin  work,  and  as  Mr.  Keller  is  anxiflus,  before 
finally  completing  his  drawings,  to  inspect  the  monuments  of  the 
old  world,  we  have  deferred  letting  any  contract  for  building  until 
the  spring  of  1885.  Mr.  Keller  will  leave  this  country  next  month. 
and  return  early  enough  in  the  spring  to  have  the  contracts  let 
and  the  work  begun  so  soon  as  it  is  advisable. 
The  monev  raised  amounts,  in  all,  with  the  interest  accrued,  to 
about  $132,000." 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  officers  and  members  of  the 
Garfield  National  Monument  Association : 

OFFICERS. 

Ex-Gov.  Charles  Foster,  President. 
Ex-President,  R.  B.  Haves,  Vice-President. 
Ex-Gov.  A.  B.  Cornell,  Vice-President. 
J.  H.  Rhodes,  Secretary. 
National  Bank  of  Commerce,  Treasurer. 


85 


x 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 


Charles  Foster, 
R.  B.  Hayes, 


J.  H.  Wade. 


H.  B.  Payne, 
Joseph  Perkins, 


Charles  Foster, 
K.  B.  Hayes, 
A.  B.  Cornell, 
J.  H.  Wade, 
H.  B.  Payne, 


trustees. 

Joseph  Perkins, 
James  G.  Blaine, 
R.  E.  Withers, 
T.  P.  Handy, 
Dan  P.  Eells, 


John  Hay, 
Enoch  T.  Carson, 
Amos  Townsend, 
J.  H.  Rhodes, 
J.  P.  Robinson. 


It  seems  to  be  proper  to  close  this  publication  with  some  infor- 
mation about  the  membership  of  the  National  Lincoln  Monument 
Association.  The  column  on  the  left  contains  the  names  of  the 
original  members  of  the  Association,  that  on  the  fight  the  present 
members.  Names  of  deceased  members  are  marked  with  a  star, 
and  the  names  of  those  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancies  are  in  the 
column  on  the  right,  opposite  the  names  of  deceased  ones.  It 
will  be  seen  that  two  vacancies  by  death  have  not  been  filled. 
The  seats  of  Dennis  and  Melvin  were  declared  vacant  on  account 
of  their  removal,  the  first  to  Chicago  and  the  latter  to  San  Fran- 
cisco. If  the  removal  of  Judge  Zane  to  Salt  Lake  City  makes  a 
vacancy,  then  there  are  three  vacant  seats  in  the  Association. 


Gov.  R.  J.  Oglesby,  President. 

*Hon.  J.  K.  Dubois,  Vice-President. 

Hon.  J.  H.  Beveridge,  Treasurer. 

Hon.  O.  M.  Hatch,  Secretary. 

Hon.  John  T.  Stuart,  )    ^ 

„        T         -nr  (    Executive 

Col.  John  Williams,    >  Committee 

Jacob  Bunn.  ' 

Hon.  J.  C.  Conkling. 

Judge  S.  H.  Treat. 
*Hon.  Sharon  Tyndale. 

Hon.  Newton  Bateman. 
*Hon.  O.  H.  Miner. 
"Hon.  D.  L.  Phillips. 

T.  J.  Dennis. 

Dr.  S.  H.  Melvin. 


Gov.  J.  R.  Oglesby,  President. 

Ex-Gov.  S.  M.  Cullom, Vice-President. 

Hon.  J.  H.  Beveridge,  Treasurer. 

Hon.  O.  M.  Hatch,  Secretary. 

Hon.  John  T.  Stuart, 

Col.  John  Williams, 

Hon.  J.  C.  Conkling. 

Jacob  Bunn. 

Judge  S.  H.  Treat. 

Ex-Gov.  John  M.  Palmer. 

Hon.  Newton  Bateman. 


[   Executive 
(  Committee. 


Judge  C.  S.  Zane. 
Hon.  Milton  Hay. 


